Chatam Sofer Memorial

Chatam Sofer Memorial

Mauzóleum Chatama Sófera
Chatam Sofer Memorial complex in Bratislava, Slovakia
Location	Nábrežie armádneho generála Ludvíka Svobodu Street (Official Website: http://www.chatamsofer.sk/)
Designer	Martin Kvasnica
Completion date	2002
Opening date	July 8, 2002
Dedicated to	Moses Sofer

Chatam Sofer Memorial, formerly the Old Jewish Cemetery is the burial place and memorial of Moses Sofer a prominent orthodox rabbi from the 19th century built at the place of a 17th-century Jewish cemetery in Bratislava, Slovakia. The historical cemetery was mostly destroyed with the construction of the road tunnel under Bratislava Castle in 1943 but negotiations with the clero-fascist Slovak leader Jozef Tiso allowed an important fraction of the cemetery containing the graves of the rabbis to be preserved encased in concrete. Later, when the tunnel was converted for public transport trams a tram stop was constructed above the site. In 2002 a modern memorial was erected above the site and it was partially opened to the public.

The fenced area of the Chatam Sofer Memorial is roughly equivalent to the area of the former Old Jewish Cemetery of Bratislava. It is located at Nábrežie armádneho generála Ludvíka Svobodu Street and it is bordered by the tram tunnel to the east a wall to the north, New Apostolic Church headquarters to the west and the River Park development to the south across the street. It is approximately 70 meters distant from the river Danube.

There is a public transport bus stop (one in each direction) and a tram stop (also one in each direction) called Chatam Sofer next to the memorial.

In the 17th century, Jews were allowed to settle in the area below Bratislava Castle on the estates of the Counts of the Pálffy family. The Jewish community established a graveyard near the river Danube which served until 1847. Since then, the Jewish community has used the Orthodox and Neolog cemetery located on Žižkova Street nearby. Until the mid-20th century the area was immediately adjacent to the Danube, set apart from any houses and quiet as traffic for Bratislava Castle and the city traversed Žižkova Street and other roads above the site. In the 1940s, new structures were erected nearby to serve the International Danube Fair, later to become Park kultúry a oddychu. At the same time, the riverbank was extended and the area filled with roads and tram lines and construction of the tunnel under the Bratislava Castle Hill commenced.