Bohemian church in Rixdorf
The Böhmischer Gottesacker Rixdorf is a cemetery that was laid out in 1751 in the Neukölln district (formerly Rixdorf) on today's Karl-Marx-Platz in Berlin . The cemetery is 5603 square meters and was originally built as a burial place of the Protestant exiles from Bohemia who have been displaced in their homeland because of their faith, and here in Bohemian-Rixdorf with permission I. Friedrich Wilhelm founded settled. The exiles and their descendants founded three Bohemian parishes in 1747, one that joined the Moravian Brothers Congregation ( existing ), the Reformed Bethlehem parish (existing) and the Bohemian Lutheran parish with the Rixdorf Bethlehem church , which merged with three neighboring Lutheran parishes in 2005. Even today, the Gottesacker represents the cemetery of the three congregations, the part of the Brethren Church is clearly distinguishable from the part of the Lutherans and Reformed people through its uniform and simple grave design.
history
The Bohemian community of Rixdorf was very closely connected with the Moravian Brethren from the beginning and accordingly the cemetery was laid out in the Moravian tradition with recumbent tombstones, the burials were separated by sex. This changed with the growth of the church and the increase in Reformed and Lutheran Christians, and in 1903 the cemetery was divided into three parts that belonged to each church.
In 1971, large parts of the cemetery of the Brethren in front of Hallescher Tor were destroyed by the construction of Blücherstrasse . 15 grave slabs from the brick wall were brought to the Bohemian churchyard beforehand and attached here next to the 130 grave slabs of the eastern churchyard wall. Among these plates are some of the oldest in Berlin, including those of the oldest preacher of the Brethren and later Bishop Andreas Grasmann . There are also the grave slabs for Adam Krystek and Jan Pittmann, who were among the earliest settlers, and Catharina Proskin and Jan Vitmann, whose grave slabs were already very badly weathered and were thoroughly restored in 1988/89. The deciphering work on the latter, which received a Czech inscription, was carried out by the Prague journalist Bohumil Kostál, who also had to use old church records from Bohemia for this purpose.
Johan Christian Nemetz received an interesting gravestone inscription from his parents. He
- died on August 23, 1815 at the age of 22 years, 6 months, 3 weeks, 2 days and 3 hours. (From Hammer 2001)
architecture
The cemetery is geometrically laid out and has a main avenue lined with linden and chestnut trees. There is no lay-out plan for the burials in the cemetery or for the numerous transfers.
One of the gates of the Bohemian Gottesackers is located on Karl-Marx-Platz and looks a little squeezed within the residential area. Above the green gate wings, decorated with rosettes and spearheads, there is a striking wrought-iron construction made of a straight beam with the inscription Böhmischer Gottesacker , above is an arched construction with a crowning cross and the inscription I know that my Redeemer lives. The second gate is in the middle of the cemetery wall along Kirchofstrasse and bears the inscription Cristus is my life - Die my gain. The exact construction time and the architect of the gates are not known.
The chapel was built by Erich Ruhtz in 1965/66 . It is a flat and simple, block-like brick building with a small open porch. The main room is in the larger of the two parts of the building, the significantly smaller block on the side contains the administration rooms of the chapel. The other side of the building is partially glazed, and there is access to the chancel from both sides.
See also
literature
- Klaus Hammer: Historic cemeteries & tombs in Berlin . Stattbuch-Verlag, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-922778-32-1
- Klaus Hammer: Berlin cemetery guide . Jaron Verlag GmbH, 2001, ISBN 3-89773-081-2
- Klaus Konrad Weber, Peter Güttler, Ditta Ahmadi (eds.): Berlin and its buildings. Part X Volume A: Facilities and structures for supply (3) Funeral services . Verlag von Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn, Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-433-00890-6
Coordinates: 52 ° 28 ′ 24.3 " N , 13 ° 26 ′ 32.3" E