Jewish Cemetery Hohenems

Hohenems (subproject 2 additional application / restoration)

Twelve headstones at the Jewish cemetery in Hohenems are in urgent need of restoration. The office of the Secretary General received an application for funding in the amount of 17,590 €.

In 2014, funding of 67,223.75 € was approved for subproject II. The project was completed in autumn 2018, coming in under budget at 50,417.81 €. Therefore, an amount of 16,805.94 was approved but not required.

The application was examined for scrutability. Following discussions by the Advisory Board, the application was recommended with a marginal adjustment to the amount, whereby the requested sum was reduced to equal the amount of the surplus from subproject II.

The Fund’s Board of Trustees complied with the recommendation of the Advisory Board.

Work on the cemetery building and auxiliary work
Following the completion of the restoration work on the cemetery’s western perimeter wall the remaining work on the cemetery building remains to be carried out. In addition, urgent measures must be taken to ensure that the cemetery can be accessed by the steps. How to proceed, material etc. for the call to tender and the services required are stipulated by the Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments.  

Surveying work
Terrestrial laser scanning to secure the present inventory in the form of digital monument protection and as a basis for the renovation work is recommended by the Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments.

Execution

At the Jewish cemetery Hohenems the western cemetery wall and 9 gravestones are being restored (incl. pro rata architectural services).

Execution of works - professionals

Sample restoration headstones

Having determined the headstones suitable for a sample renovation, they will be restored by an expert restorer.

Sample restoration cemetery wall

The western wall of the cemetery, which is as old as the cemetery itself, is a quarry stone wall and is affected by cracks and damp. The restoration of a 10m wide sample length is hoped to yield information for the renovation of the remainder of the wall. The work will be supervised by the Provicial Conservation Office Vorarlberg of the Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments.

Survey inventory

A thodolit survey will be undertaken for the entire cemetery, incl. all headstones, circumferencial walls and the ground. An inventory plan will also be produced.

Ground radar inventory

Due to the uncertain available data and the uncertain historical information, investigations will be undertaken using georadar and magnetometer prospecting. During the course of the inventory, objects below the topsoil can also be recorded and important information can be collected for further potential burials and restoration work.

During recent decades, maintenance and restoration work has already been carried out by the applicant for funding, the Association for the Preservation of the Jewish Cemetery in Hohenems. In recent years, surveys and inventories have been undertaken to establish and record the condition of the graves and the cemetery walls. The measures funded build on this work already carried out and on preparatory discussions with the Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments.

Contracting services sample renovation cemetary wall and sample renovation headstones

The services funded by the Fund for the Restoration of the Jewish Cemeteries in Austria comprise contracting, producing a list of services and carrying out the call to tender procedure incl. determining the best offer, as well as the services of the local building inspection incl. cost control and auditing for the sample renovation of a ca. 10m length of wall and eight headstones in various categories of damage.

Issuing a call to tender for georadar, surveying

The funded services involve putting together a list of services and undertaking the call to tender and determination of the best offer for the performance of survey work and geoprospecting.