Alter Nordfriedhof (Munich)

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Arcade tombs
In the background Church of St. Joseph
Tombs

The Old North Cemetery (also known as the Old North Cemetery ) is a cemetery on Arcisstraße in Munich that was used from 1869 to 1944 . It was built from 1866 onwards according to plans by city planner Arnold Zenetti . Today it is also used as a park.

history

Until 1563, Munich's cemeteries were within the city walls. With the south cemetery in front of the Sendlinger Tor, a cemetery was created outside the walls for the first time. It became the main cemetery of the city with the prohibition of burials by Elector Karl Theodor in 1789 on intra muros, i.e. within the city walls of Munich. At that time the southern cemetery was the only and general burial place for the dead from the entire city area. Increasingly, however, this cemetery became too narrow for the rapidly growing city, which is why the planning of a new cemetery in the northern part of the city began. The northern cemetery was built in Maxvorstadt between June 1866 and summer 1869 .

The planning for this already reflected the dichotomy between society and cemeteries and public buildings in general: on the one hand, there is a general desire to have a grave site that is as prominent as possible in the cemetery, on the other hand, the cemetery should not be on one's own front door. Despite all adversities, the Old Northern Cemetery was opened on October 5, 1868. The first burial took place on the same day as the former parish priest of St. Ludwig was reburied in the new cemetery.

The cemetery itself was originally divided into 16 fields of equal size, the basic shape is rectangular. 30 arcaded tombs were laid out along the western wall, and there is a large cross in the middle of the cemetery. The rectangular shape was followed by the funeral hall and a few other commercial buildings. In its basic geometric pattern and the (at least partial) arcades on the wall, it corresponded to the Campo Santo idea.

When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, the cemetery as a whole was called into question: as part of the reconstruction of Munich as the capital of the movement, the Nazi regime wanted to connect Isabellastraße with Luisenstraße in order to build a splendid avenue dedicated to Adolf Hitler's intended retirement home in Schwabing should lead. However, the Old Northern Cemetery stood in the way of this planning. For this reason, the rest period was first reduced and then the regular funeral operations were discontinued from 1939. Until 1944 there were still individual burials in existing family graves. When the cemetery was also badly affected by bombing raids during World War II , the cemetery was finally closed. Many arcaded tombs and most of the other cemetery structures were also destroyed in the attacks.

In the post-war years it was decided not to open the old north cemetery anymore. On the one hand, most of the grave fields were already occupied; on the other hand, with the large cemeteries established under Hans Grässel at the beginning of the 20th century, there was enough capacity to do without this rather small cemetery. As a result, many graves were cleared; of the total capacity of 7,272 tombs, only a good 700 are preserved today. A total of around 62,000 people were buried there from 1868 to 1944/45. Half of the arcades were not rebuilt after the war damage; Instead of the funeral hall there is now a playground that is separated from the rest of the cemetery. It was given its current appearance by the architect Hans Döllgast . It is a protected architectural monument with the number D-1-62-000-389.

present

Use as a lawn

Today, the cemetery with its loosened population of deciduous trees represents an important green area in the Maxvorstadt district and is used as a small park as part of the piety towards the people buried here a long time ago. Numerous benches are available for walkers. On nice days, the space between the tombs, some of which are entwined with ivy, is often used as a lawn for sunbathing. In addition, the path along the inside of the cemetery wall and the arcades has established itself as a popular route for joggers . One lap around the rectangular, four-hectare area is around 750 meters.

The playground to the west offers, among other things, opportunities for ball games or floor chess .

Graves of famous people

Grave site of Max von Montgelas
Grave site of Wilhelm Dürr (called the Elder )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Real Estate Report Munich of January 14, 2015; Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  2. ^ Ordinance sheet of the Royal Bavarian War Ministry 1871, p. 293.
  3. ↑ Christian Lankes : Munich as a garrison in the 19th century: the capital and residence city as the location of the Bavarian Army from Elector Max IV. Joseph until the turn of the century, Mittler, 1993, p. 532, plus Diss. Univ. Munich, 1991 ISBN 3813204014 .

literature

  • Lioba Betten - Thomas Multhaup: The Münchner Friedhöfe - Guide to Places of Remembrance , MünchenVerlag, Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-7630-4056-8 , pp. 14-19
  • Isolde Ohlbaum, Axel Winterstein: The old northern cemetery . MünchenVerlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3-937090-59-7
  • Davide von Retberg: Cemetery Notes . In: Monthly sheet of the heraldic-genealogical association "Adler" . Volume 3, 1895, pp. 413-419
  • Günther Baumann: The old northern cemetery on Arcisstrasse . In: Neuhauser Werkstatt-Nachrichten. Issue 7. Munich 2001, pp. 53–56
  • Elfi Zuber : The Old Northern Cemetery: A Chapter of Munich's Cultural History . Second, revised edition. Zeke, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-924078-01-7
  • Hans-Peter Burchardt (ed.), Marianne Lengfelder: In the old northern cemetery in Munich . Schneekluth, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-7951-0961-2
  • Erich Scheibmayr : Last home. Self-published, Munich 1985
  • Erich Scheibmayr: Who? When? Where? 3 parts, 1989, 1997, 2002, self-published, Munich

Web links

Commons : Alter Nordfriedhof Munich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 9 ′ 13.2 ″  N , 11 ° 34 ′ 12.8 ″  E