Jewish cemetery in Mělník

The Jewish cemetery in Mělník is a small but well-preserved burial ground on the northern edge of town, in the Podolí district. It was established in 1878, after the local Jewish community had spent years pushing for permission to create its own dedicated burial site. Before that, Jews living in Mělník and the surrounding area had to bury their dead elsewhere, a considerable burden for a small yet growing community.

How did a Jewish community come to exist in Mělník?

The earliest records of a Jewish presence in the town date back to the beginning of the 15th century, though for centuries afterward the size of the community was tightly restricted. It was only the legal changes of the mid-19th century — the lifting of settlement restrictions following the revolutions of 1848 — that allowed Jewish families from nearby villages and towns to move into Mělník itself. The community grew steadily through the second half of the 19th century, reaching its peak population around 1900. In the following decades the number of residents of the Jewish faith declined steadily; by 1930 the community numbered only about 94 people.

What is the history of the cemetery itself?

Efforts to establish a separate cemetery succeeded in February 1878, when the independent Jewish community secured permission to build it. Just three years later, in 1881, a pre-burial hall (mortuary chamber) was constructed on the grounds, and in 1886 a caretaker's house was added — evidence that the community took the site seriously and invested in its upkeep despite its modest size.

Burials took place at the cemetery from 1878 until 1942. Over that period, approximately 270 people were laid to rest here. The final burials coincided with the Second World War, when deportations and the Holocaust effectively ended the history of the region's Jewish community.

What can visitors see today?

About 130 gravestones have survived — a modest but valuable collection of matzevot documenting more than sixty years of the local community's history. The site is enclosed by a wall, and the surviving headstones follow forms typical of Central European Jewish cemeteries: simple steles bearing Hebrew inscriptions, some supplemented with additional text in German or Czech.

Is the site protected and maintained?

Yes. In 1987, the cemetery — along with its boundary wall and collection of gravestones — was entered on the state list of cultural monuments, granting it formal legal protection. Between 2015 and 2016, restoration work was carried out: a new boundary wall was built, and gravestones damaged by time and weather were repaired. As a result, the site has retained a legible historical character and remains open to visitors as a testament to the once-thriving, now-vanished Jewish community of Mělník.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the cemetery located? About 1 km northeast of the town square, in the Podolí district, on Dobrovského street.

How many people are buried there? Historians estimate around 270 burials took place between 1878 and 1942.

Is the cemetery still in use? No — the last burials occurred in 1942. Today it is a protected historical monument rather than an active burial ground.

Can it be visited? Yes, the site is open to visitors, though it is small and quiet with no significant tourist infrastructure — visitors should treat it with the respect appropriate to a burial site.