Old Malstatter cemetery

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The old Malstatter cemetery at the beginning of the 20th century, right margin; somewhat to the left of the center of the picture the Burbacher forest cemetery

The old Malstatt cemetery on Jenneweg was the cemetery for the Malstatt district of Saarbrücken from 1880 to 1912 . Although it has been classified as a listed ensemble since 1994, it is gradually falling into disrepair and is also strongly subject to environmental influences and vandalism, because neither the city of Saarbrücken nor any of its members take care of graves. Today there should be no more usage rights, in 1995 there were five. The two graves of honor of Malstatt-Burbach mayor Wilhelm Meyer (1835–1900) and the merchant Georg Heckel (1839–1899), who bequeathed rich inheritance to the municipality for the construction of a pension office, are still being looked after by the garden office. Otherwise the area has been de-dedicated.

history

With the construction of the Burbacher Hütte in the middle of the 1850s and the associated strong population growth, the village of Malstadt-Burbach left the Saarbrücken Mayor's Association in 1866. Just nine years later, the rural community received city rights. The two denominational cemeteries at the Protestant and the Catholic Church were soon occupied and rapid building activity made expansion efforts impossible. For health reasons, it was no longer desirable to continue operating cemeteries within the narrow buildings.

In 1873 the municipal administration first considered taking the cemeteries into state care and refraining from denominational cemeteries in the future. The Burbach cemetery was to be laid out in Gewann Im Laufert , the Malstatter in Meiersdell . While the land purchases in Burbach went smoothly, there was no agreement with the landowners in Malstatt, which only came about with the help of expropriations . A widening of the path planned immediately afterwards as an access also took place by means of expropriation. In June 1880 the first burial could be carried out on the new cemetery grounds.

As early as 1909, full occupancy of the cemetery was foreseeable. An extension was initially considered, but was not carried out because of the fear that the groundwater level would be too high. Stadtgärtner Eckardt, in particular, advised against an expansion and instead suggested sharing the Burbach forest cemetery . Despite fierce opposition to the joint use of the Burbach cemetery, the closure was decided by a city council meeting on December 20, 1910.

A report by the building authorities from 1930 contained suggestions for the future use of the smaller cemeteries in the city area. After that, the Malstatt cemetery was also affected. The cemeteries should “all be added to the recreational areas over the years. Of course only for adults as a resting place, not as a playground for young people. It will be the job of the City Garden Authority to redesign the grave fields with skill and tact. ”Financial resources were set aside for the 1932 budget. These redesign measures also included the demolition of the chapel and the morgue. As a replacement for the toilets, a new facility was built next to the gardener's house at the main entrance. In 1939, state metal collections led to the complete removal of old metal grave borders.

investment

The topography is characterized by a pronounced hillside location to the east to the tracks of the railway at the Schleifmühle. The 3.25 ha large, trapezoidal, park-like green area is today an important local recreation area, which is characterized by rich trees, hedges, grass areas and species-rich, herbaceous wild flora. Along its long western border to Jenneweg, from which the only two accesses are possible, it is bounded by a sandstone wall, the other three borders form fences. To the north and south, private land forms the neighborhood, while in the east a narrow strip of railroad allotments lines the cemetery towards the marshalling yard. The main entrance is the direct extension of Westrichweg and is lavishly designed. This gate system consists of three embossed sandstone arches, the middle of which is slightly higher. The entrances are provided with wrought iron gates. Here, too, the middle gate is of higher quality with diamond-shaped fields and tendrils. Severe damage from a truck collision in 1990 was repaired in 1992/93.

Gardener's apartment at the Burbacher Waldfriedhof; identical to the one on the Malstatter cemetery

The family graves and the war memorial for those who fell in the Franco-German War are located along the stone wall . The entire facility was accessed by a central path running from north to south, in the middle of which the morgue had been located since 1905. This was built in neo-Gothic clinker brick construction with sandstone foundations and had a rectangular hall-shaped room with a polygonal choir behind the square vestibule . The corners and window reveals were also made of sandstone. To the right of the entrance there was a small annex with a doctor's and autopsy room, a room for the clergy and public toilets, to the left of the entrance the morgue. This building complex was demolished between 1911 and 1934 due to its disrepair. In the same architectural style, there was the gardener's house to the left of the main entrance with an elaborately designed hipped roof and profiled, basket-like window frames with agraffes and a dwarf house with a crooked hipped roof on one side. A structurally identical, but now heavily modified building for the same purpose is still located at the Waldfriedhof Burbach at the Viktor-Tesch-Allee entrance. City architect Franz Jansen is likely to have been responsible for the structural planning. In place of the gardener's apartment, there is now an L-shaped low-rise building from the early 1960s.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Rainer Knauf and Christof Trepesch: The old Malstatter cemetery in Saarbrücken.
  2. ↑ Stadtarchiv Saarbrücken: Partial report on the general development plan of the city of Saarbrücken: The social open spaces of the city, green spaces, parks, cemeteries, January 1930, p. 9. Stadtarchiv Saarbrücken, Best. Großstadt No. 3255
  3. ^ City of Saarbrücken: Work report on municipal planning 29, Stadtbiotopkarte, Saarbrücken, May 1984, p. 70

literature

  • Rainer Knauf and Christof Trepesch: The old Malstatter cemetery in Saarbrücken . In: Journal for the history of the Saar region. Historical Association for the Saar Region e. V., 45th year, self-published Saarbrücken 1997; Pp. 147-169

Web links

Commons : Alter Malstatter Friedhof  - Collection of images, videos and audio files


Coordinates: 49 ° 14 ′ 54 ″  N , 6 ° 58 ′ 26 ″  E