Protestant cemetery Rheydt

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Protestant cemetery Rheydt
Protestant cemetery Rheydt

The Protestant Cemetery Rheydt is located in the Rheydt district in Mönchengladbach , North Rhine-Westphalia , Nordstrasse 140 / Friedhofstrasse 47.

The cemetery was laid out in 1822. It was entered on October 15, 2003 under no. N 017 in the monuments list of the city of Mönchengladbach .

location

The Protestant Cemetery Rheydt is located northeast of the historical core of the formerly independent city of Rheydt. With the exception of the row buildings along Gartenstrasse, it takes up the entire area between Nordstrasse, Pötterstrasse and Friedhofstrasse.

architecture

The cemetery has been laid out since 1822 in several phases, which cannot always be dated exactly, as the central cemetery for the evangelical community in Rheydt, which is growing rapidly in number, as a successor to the abandoned burial place in the churchyard next to the old main church on the market square. Along Friedhofstrasse it is fenced in by a high brick wall structured by pilaster strips . The wall along Pötterstrasse is plastered. A partially plastered natural stone wall built in connection with the construction of the cemetery chapel in 1928 takes over the boundary to the north street. The building material used for the chapel ( Anröchter green sandstone ) can also be found on this boundary wall.

The cemetery can be accessed via Friedhofstraße (old access) and Nordstraße (new access): The gate system on Friedhofstraße, which was built around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and is highlighted by its architectural design, demonstrates the self-confidence and the will to represent the Protestant community Rheydt. The gate system consists of a round-arched passage, closed by two gate leaves and arranged in the center, with separate pedestrian passages attached to the sides. It was built from mighty blocks of brown sandstone (possibly Ruhr sandstone) over basalt lava bases.

Two projections flanking the passage and protruding at right angles with squat four-pass pillars above high, multi-profiled bases and flat capitals surrounded by vine leaves support the triangular roof formed by an imposing roof construction with a profiled verge . Above the capitals there are putti in relief , which are supported on a crenellated wreath. Above the archway is the inscription : YOUR DEAD WILL LIVE. At the side of the gate passage, two attached lower extensions under the hipped roof allow pedestrians to enter. The entrances are closed by iron gate and door leaves made of rolled sheet metal.

All roofs are covered with plain tiles. The "Hall for funeral speeches", built in 1869, is attached to the west and is now used as a result of operational reorganization and has taken on new functions. On the north side of the cemetery complex, a very simply designed entrance from Nordstrasse corresponds to the old representative gate system on Friedhofstrasse. Located at the northern end of the main access axis and creatively related to the building complex of the cemetery chapel with adjoining offices and morgue from 1928, it is only designed as an opening in the boundary wall. A consistently uniform and closed floor plan of the entire facility of the cemetery cannot be recognized due to the history of its origins. Rather, the spatial structuring is characterized by the different, symmetrically structured extension areas with their respective enclosing walls, which are now partly replaced by hedges, and by avenues.

In general, it can be stated that the geometrical structure of the larger south-eastern area with a central main axis and secondary axes arranged at right angles as well as the previously symmetrical distribution of the individual areas, which is no longer consistently maintained today, corresponds to the organizational and design criteria of the 19th and 20th centuries. Slight changes in the internal structure can be found due to the systematic repopulation, the abandonment of the large family graves and their conversion into electoral graves . Similarly, the tombstones in this oldest area offer a heterogeneous picture. No uniform stylistic features can be made out, since in addition to those of the early period mostly contemporary grave monuments characterize the appearance.

The few large hereditary burials - this also applies to the oldest graves built on the inner wall - are all of good quality and are individually named and described in the list of monuments. In terms of formal design, the western expansion area on Gartenstrasse clearly stands out. Older design criteria are taken up again in the form of a crossroads with two axes that cross at right angles and that divide the area into four equally large quarters rounded at the ends. A smaller-sized variant connects to the north.

The area occupied by Nordstrasse is much more recent, it dates from the post-war period and does not reveal any consistent organizational principle. A spatial combination of the individual areas of the cemetery complex is achieved through plantings - especially hedges - and the interconnected paths. The various extensions with their respective boundary walls, however, easily obscure the appearance of the entire complex.

For reasons of local history, social history and art history, the Protestant cemetery on Nordstrasse is an outstanding architectural monument, both in terms of its basic structure, including the main access axes, pathways, enclosure walls and gates on Friedhofstrasse and Nordstrasse, as well as the individually described grave sites and monuments absolutely worth protecting.

literature

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Monuments list of the city of Mönchengladbach ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pb.moenchengladbach.de

Coordinates: 51 ° 10 ′ 20.1 ″  N , 6 ° 26 ′ 58.7 ″  E