Berlin – where the stars say goodbye

There are many places of interest in the German capital of Berlin. A number of architectural treasures lure tourists fond of the historical atmosphere of this famous city. Especially its very moving history after World War II is what attracts a
large number of travelers who come to learn about the unfortunate communist era and the differences between what once used to be East and West Ber-
lin. However, there is yet another aspect of Berlin many respect and come to admire. The long gone past is still very real in any of the 260 cemeteries that are to be found in this city.

The cemeteries vary in size and character and
all together take up 1,200 hectares of land in and
around the area of Berlin. The surprising number of
cemeteries is due to the fact that in the 19th cen-
tury, when Berlin was made capital of the German
Empire, it quickly started spreading into the sur-
rounding areas. And thus, little towns and villages
in the vicinity became absorbed – together with
their cemeteries.

Nowadays, the cemeteries are a rather odd at-
traction for tourists. One of the reasons are nat-
urally the personalities buried here. Graves of
Felix Mendolssohn Bartholdy, E.T.A. Hoffmann,
Marlene Dietrich, Willy Brandt, Rosa Luxem-
burg and Karl Liebknecht are among the most
visited ones. However, many ex-Berliners tend
to visit these places as well. They take guided
tours of the more ‘fabulous’ burial places and
feel they are reliving the history they ran away
from. Some of the sculptures are remarkable
as well as bronze statues and wall engravings,
reliefs and mausoleums. A very striking experi-
ence tourists are encouraged to go for is visiting
any of the five Jewish cemeteries, including Eu-
rope’s largest site of Jewish burial in the Weis-
sensee district.

The cemeteries are surprisingly well maintained,
as the local authorities are aware of the importance
of keeping this aspect of Berlin’s history alive. How-
ever, the maintenance would not be possible with-
out generous donations from private individuals,
foundations and the state lottery.

Old Cemetery of Twelve Apostles
The first cemetery of the Protestant Parish of
Twelve Apostles, established in 1864 by the royal
landscape architect Carl David Bouché (1801-
1881) in the style of a Campo Santo. High concen-
tration of grave monuments with considerable artis-
tic value, some rare galvanized bronze sculptures,
iron casted fences and a visible historical tree and
plant population characterize this worth seeing
place. You can find here the gravesites of famous
artists of the 19th and 20th century, for example the HERITAGE: Next Stop? A Burial Site
sculptor Reinhold Begas and the painters Anton
von Werner and Robert Warthmüller.

Old St. Matthew`s Cemetery
The cemetery was founded in 1856. It is one of
Berlin’s most significant listed graveyards, with
more than 60 graves of very important personages, for example the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm
Grimm, the doctor and politician Rudolf Virchow, the
educationalist Adolf Diesterweg and the composer
Max Bruch. Many impressive grave architectures
and sculptures are of considerable artistic value,
created by architects and artisans of the Prussian
Empire, some of them are buried here, for example
Friedrich Drake, Heino Schmieden and Alfred Messel.

Stahnsdorf Southwestern Cemetery
On March 28, 1909 the South-Western Cemetery
officially opened. Given its size and the vast park/
forest-like layout, the South-Western Cemetery
developed into one of the largest and best known
burial sites in Germany already a few decades later.
Several personalities found their final resting place
here, such as, among others, Heinrich Zille, Ru-
dolf Breitscheid, Lovis Corinth, Edmund Rumpler,
Louis Ullstein, and the Siemens family. The overall
impression is definitely influenced by the combina-
tion of garden and cemetery art, architecture and
sculptures.

Architects and artists such as Franz Seeck, Al-
fred Grenander, Max Taut, Hugo Lederer, Hermann
Hosaeus and Emil Cauer worked here, to mention
but a few. Apart from 19th and 20th century tomb-
stone art, the mourning chapel in the style of the
Norwegian Stave churches is the core of the South-
Western Cemetery. Gustav Werner, royal building
surveyor, found his inspiration in Scandinavia and
between 1908 and 1911 implemented the chapel
building plans. The cemetery achieved thus fame
and popularity as a cultural monument, far beyond
the boundaries of Berlin.

http://www.tourism-review.com

http://www.significantcemeteries.org

May 1, 2009   Posted in: Germany