Camposanto (Buttstädt)

The entrance to the Camposanto

Covered part

Historical grave monuments

The Camposanto Buttstädt is a listed historical cemetery in Buttstädt , a place in the district of Sömmerda ( Thuringia ). It is one of the few surviving Renaissance cemetery complexes in Central Germany .

History and description

The cemetery was laid out in 1591 based on the model of the Italian Camposanti and was occupied until 1861. In the late Middle Ages , there was a rethinking of burial habits. Until then it was the custom to bury the dead near the altar. So the graves were mostly around or in the church. Lack of space and hygienically questionable conditions forced a rethink. New cemeteries were created outside the city ​​walls . The strengthened bourgeoisie demanded representative graves. With the Campo Santo, a secular form of burial emerged, in which, however, the splendid tombs of the city notables were considered to be devoted to God. The previous cemetery, which was also located at this one, belonged to the Wendish church of St. Johannis, it was located outside the city limits. The Johanniskirche was destroyed in a town fire in 1684, and the cemetery was also badly affected. The gate at the corner of the cemetery bears the designation 1592, the east and north walls of Camposanto also date from this period. According to an inscription on the east wing, the interior colonnades were built in 1603. The shafts of the columns are either smooth, rusticated or fluted. The name of the city treasurer Valentin Rensch is preserved on a pedestal, he was a founder or building manager. The gate tower is faced with slate, it was probably built around 1700. The cemetery houses numerous tombs from the 16th to 19th centuries. The Campo Santo was never completely lined with arcades. The most beautiful tombs from all epochs of occupancy are preserved under the two colonnades. Only a few of the tombs on the gently sloping burial ground have survived. From 1991 to 1995 extensive building security measures were carried out. A comparable cemetery complex has not been preserved in Thuringia.

See also

• Stadtgottesacker in Halle / Saale

literature

• Stephanie Eißing, Franz Jäger u. A. in Georg Dehio : Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler Thuringia , Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-422-03095-6
• The old cemetery of Buttstädt: A Thuringian Camposanto , Ed. Thuringian State Office for Monument Preservation, Klaus-Jürgen Kamprad Publishing House, Altenburg, 2003, ISBN 3-910166-95-4
• Nils-Christian Engel The old cemetery of Buttstädt , ISBN 3-938819-00-6
• Barbara Happe The Camposanto in Buttstädt - a rare witness of early modern sepulchral art in Thuringia. In: Die Auslese, March 1992, pp. 1-18

Web links

Commons : Camposanto Buttstädt  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Sides of the historic cemetery
• Report on the website of the community

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stephanie Eißing, Franz Jäger u. A. in Georg Dehio : Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler Thüringen , Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-422-03095-6 , page 181
2. ↑ Duration of use
3. ^ Changes in burial culture
4. ↑ Stephanie Eißing, Franz Jäger u. A. in Georg Dehio : Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler Thüringen , Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-422-03095-6 , page 181
5. ↑ Tombs
6. ↑ Stephanie Eißing, Franz Jäger u. A. in Georg Dehio : Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler Thüringen , Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-422-03095-6 , page 182
7. ↑ Stephanie Eißing, Franz Jäger u. A. in Georg Dehio : Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler Thüringen , Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-422-03095-6 , page 182

Coordinates: 51 ° 7 ′ 7.5 ″  N , 11 ° 25 ′ 9.8 ″  E