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Nikolsburg, strategically situated half way between the Habsburg imperial capital of Vienna and the main Moravian city of Brünn, lay just inside Moravia on a major trading route. When Czechoslovakia became independent following WWI Nikolsburg was renamed Mikulov. Jewish life here reached a peak in the early 19th century, outshining other towns in Moravia. Jews benefitted from the relatively benign regime of the Prince von Dietrichstein family, and a thriving community developed on the western slopes of the imposing hill on which stood the princely palace. Nikolsburg, the seat of the Moravian Chief Rabbi, had a well-known Yeshiva, many synagogues and a large graveyard in which many of the famous rabbis of Moravia are buried. Mikulov was part of the Sudetenland which was handed over to Hitler by the appeasers at Munich in 1938. Those who didn't escape died in the concentration camps.

Pictures

• The Rabonimplatz - last resting place of famous Moravian rabbis
• Views and panoramas of Mikulov - Nikolsburg
• Ghetto streets and backways
• The Altschul Synagogue of Nikolsburg
• The old cemetery of Nikolsburg
• Historical and ritual objects from the former Jewish Museum in Nikolsburg
• A crowd leaving the synagogue after a marriage in the 1930s.
• The destruction of the Tempelgasse.

Background Information

• A historical chronology of Nikolsburg.
• Books and articles on Nikolsburg.
• Plan of the old Nikolsburg ghetto (443 KB)
  showing which of the old houses are still standing (by kind permission of Ing. Arch. Jaroslav Klenovksy).

Genealogical Resources

• Jewish vital data resources for Mikulov - Nikolsburg.
• A complete list of the surnames in the Nikolsburg Graveyard Register.
• The 50 commonest surnames in the Nikolsburg Graveyard Register.
• A list of published gravestone inscriptions from the Nikolsburg cemetery.
• A plan of the Nikolsburg cemetery showing the layout of sections, helpful in locating graves.
• A list of high-school students from Nikolsburg in 1875.
• Visitors from Nikolsburg to the Leipzig Fair in the 17th and 18th centuries.
• Name index (861 entries) to Bruno Trapp's article on Nikolsburg.
• Article titled Die Nikolsburger Juden 1560-1620 by Marie Buňatová, from the holdings of the Institute for Jewish History in Austria.

Memoirs, Family Stories and Tales of Nikolsburg

• Mikulov in the 1930s (Kurt Krakauer).
• Recollections of Nikolsburg in the 1930s (Lilly Landesman)
• Reminiscences of Nikolsburg in the 1880s (Edmund Jerusalem).
• The Eruw - a story about Rabbi Mordechai Benett
• The Shamash of Nikolsburg - a story about Rabbi Shmuel Shmelke

Searchable Databases

• Nikolsburg Cemetery Register Database - You can either read the Introduction first, or search from here:
  
  Data Type Surname Given Name Any Field   Search Type Sounds Like Phonetically Like Starts with is Exactly  
• JewishGen Family Finder (for Mikulov)
  Click the button to connect with others researching Mikulov
• JewishGen Austria-Czech Database - One-click Search for Mikulov
  Clicking the button below will search all the Austria-Czech databases (including the two above) for all entries related to Mikulov. The link below the button will take you to a page where you can refine your searches.
• JewishGen Austria-Czech Database
  (full access to multiple databases, including Nikolsburg Cemetery, JGFF, Holocaust Database)
  
  
• Newer spreadsheet and map of the Nikolsburg Cemetery at Brno Jewish Community site
  (in Czech, less complete, but has more details for some entries)
  
  
• Alternate Database of the Nikolsburg Cemetery at chewra.com site
  (in Czech, less complete, but has more details for some entries)
  
  
• Spreadsheet with index of Mikulov marriage records
  (based on contents of Familien-Register in Prague Jewish Museum)
  

Links

• JewishGen Austria-Czech Special Interest Group
• Collaborative Project for Researching Jewish Families from Mikulov/Nikolsburg on Geni.com
• FEEFHS map of 19th century Moravia
• Official homepage of Mikulov
• Brno Jewish community Mikulov page
  (closest current Jewish community, and owner of the Nikolsburg cemetery)
• Mikulov Regional Museum
  (includes description of cemetery and synagogue and access to them)
• Wikipedia entry for Mikulov
  
• Jewish Encyclopedia entry for Nikolsburg
  
• Photos of Nikolsburg at Zaniklé obce site
  
• Contemporary community led by a descendant of Rabbi Shmuel Shmelke Horowitz