One year later, on June 1, 1812, the Jewish community launched another endeavor to obtain its own burial ground. On behalf of the Jewish community, Nathan Metz made a spirited appeal directly to the new Prefect of the Département, Count de Lasteyrie du Saillant, who resided in the Münster Schloss:
"Monsieur le Comte,
for several years now, the undersigned Jewish community of the city of Münster has made many efforts both with the mayor of Münster and with Mr. von Mylius, the former Prefect, to obtain a cemetery for their community – but so far without success. We are currently faced with an extraordinary predicament because a death has occurred in our community: Mr. Lefmann's child died yesterday. For some time now we have been fortunate to have a government that protects all religious communities without discrimination and allows them to conduct their religious affairs without the slightest interference. This is why we turn to you, Monsieur le Comte – as the head of the administration and being known for upholding all justified pleas – to remedy the situation. We have come to an agreement with a person from the city of Münster who will cede to us the necessary land at a sufficient distance from the town. We implore you, Monsieur le Comte, to concur with this agreement. Confident of the kindness with which you deign to receive those who turn to you, and of the sense of justice with which you address their concerns, the undersigned hope for a speedy and positive decision from you, Monsieur le Comte and Prefect." (Staatsarchiv Münster, Regierung Münster no. 17163, translation of letter dated June 1, 1812).
Once again, the event that led to the request was the death of a child. Nathan Metz's reference is to Napoleon's new law on religious equality – a principle which he trusted would be in good hands with the French Prefect.
Before the day was out, Münster's mayor von Boeselager received a letter from the Prefect:
"Monsieur,
the Jewish community of this city has petitioned me to designate a cemetery for them, separate from the others that were established for the Catholics a few years ago. As this request conforms to the Imperial Decree of the 23rd Prairial of the year XII, I am forwarding the petition to you and invite you to act in accordance with the request, subject to conformity with the provisions of Art. 2 stating that areas specifically intended for the burial of the dead must be 35-40 meters away from the townships. Since a child in the Jewish community has just died and is to be buried in this new cemetery, please give this matter your urgent attention and, when you return the petition to me, inform me of the arrangements you have made." (Staatsarchiv Münster, Regierung Münster no. 17163, translation of letter dated June 1, 1812).
Article 15 of the above-mentioned imperial decree (the date given in the revolutionary calendar corresponds to June 12, 1804) states that, in municipalities where several religious communities are protected, each religious community must have its own burial ground. If there is only one cemetery, it should be divided by walls, hedges or ditches into as many parts as there are religious communities, with a separate entrance for each of them. De Lasteyrie du Saillant probably knew that there were multiple Christian cemeteries before the gates of Münster, so it seemed right and proper to him that the Jewish community should also have its own cemetery. He was clearly also aware of the time pressure the community was under.
Von Boeselager reacted with similar speed and circumspection:
"In response to your letter of today, I have informed myself about the location of the site that the Jewish community has chosen for its cemetery. Since it is well over 40 meters away from the city and since I am unaware of anything else that needs to be considered, I have assured the Community that they can bury Mr. Lefmann's deceased child according to your instructions.
As the location is in the community of Nienberge, I have informed the mayor of this municipality, who will accompany the procession to ensure that the funeral – being an extraordinary occurrence for the area – is not disturbed in any way." (Staatsarchiv Münster, Regierung Münster no. 17163, translation of letter dated June 1, 1812 ).
The fact that von Boeselager first wanted to find out about the location of the planned Jewish cemetery could indicate that the matter had been forgotten during the change of mayor. In any case, he saw no obstacle to allowing the burial of the child. As a precaution, he informs his counterpart in the neighboring community, who is prepared to use his authority to protect the funeral procession – apparently the city representatives assume that attacks on the mourners by "good Christians" cannot be ruled out.
Under the new Prefect, a matter that had remained pending under his predecessor for more than one year could now be settled in favor of the Jewish community in the space of just one day: it had already been decided in mid-1811 which plot was to be made available to the Jewish community as a burial ground, yet it was only in mid-1812 that official permission to actually proceed with burials there was granted. Decades later, on August 11, 1886, the board of the Münster synagogue asked for permission to extend the cemetery, stating that the cemetery had already been in use since 1811. In doing so, it was presumably referring primarily to the date when consent was first granted by the mayor and to the transfer payment made to Lutterbeck, rather than to the delayed granting of authorization by the Prefect.
Initially, the land occupied by the Jewish cemetery by the Coesfeld road (now Einsteinstrasse/corner of Försterstrasse) comprised the plot that now lies to the right of the main path and as far as the mourning hall (indicated on the plan as a “chapel”).