Hindeloopen

An independent Jewish community existed at Hindeloopen during the eighteenth and centuries. The Hindeloopen community had its roots in the settlement of Jews at nearby Workum. During the second half of the seventeenth century, contacts arose between seafarers from Workum and Portuguese Jewish merchants in Amsterdam. In approximately 1660, two Jews took over the lease of the local lending bank in Workum. A year later, a Jewish cemetery, the first in the province of Friesland, was established at a fortified sea gate at Séburch between Workum and Hindeloopen. The oldest remaining gravestone in the cemetery is dated 1676.

In 1715, a Jew purchased a house in Hindeloopen and established himself there as a merchant and distiller. The community that subsequently arose at Hindeloopen was eventually designated as a local community (Bijkerk) under the aegis of the regional Jewish community at Bolsward. The Hindeloopen community had its own synagogue, located on De Bueren, and made use of the cemetery at Séburch.

In 1862 the Jewish community at Hindeloopen was administratively dissolved and officially merged into that of Bolsward. The Bolsward community in turn was later merged into that of Sneek. The synagogue at Hindeloopen was razed in 1870. To this day, the plot of land on which it stood is still empty and is referred to by locals as the Jodenerf ("The Jews' Place"). The Jewish cemetery at Séburch near Workum is maintained by the municipality of Nijeford, to which Workum belongs.