Baumschulenweg cemetery
| Cemetery entrance | |
|---|---|
 Entrance to the Baumschulenweg cemetery, Berlin |
|
| Basic data | |
| Name : | Municipal cemetery Baumschulenweg |
| Address : | Kiefholzstrasse 211/216 and 222 in 12437 Berlin |
| District : | Treptow-Koepenick |
| Size : | 32.2 hectares |
The extensive Baumschulenweg municipal cemetery in Berlin is now divided into two large parts, the old one with the crematorium , Kiefholzstrasse 211, and the new one at Kiefholzstrasse 222. It borders the Königsheide forest to the north .
Old part of the cemetery
history
The old cemetery between Kiefholzstrasse, Südostallee and the Britzer connecting canal was originally laid out in 1911 by the forest finance authority based on a design by Erich Bientz and Mathias Bardenheuer. Decades earlier, the site had been partially used for trickling purposes. The area had to be prepared and redesigned in accordance with the necessary hygienic requirements.
In addition to Bientz and Bardenheuer, gardening director Harrich was entrusted with the designs. The plant reached the size of five hectares and was later expanded several times, so that it finally expanded to 16.5 hectares. The central eye-catcher was the neoclassical central building with dome and the crematorium , inaugurated on June 20, 1913 , the second next to the one in Wedding . The area offered space for 10,000 graves. The trend towards cremation established the extensive urn grove.
On May 12, 1936, Clara Schuch, a former SPD member of the Reichstag, was buried here. The fact that 5,000 people turned up for the funeral to give her final escort was viewed as a silent demonstration against the Nazi rulers.
In the period from June 1940 to August 1941, a total of 2,300 murdered prisoners from the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps and victims of the so-called Action T4 were cremated in the Baumschulenweg crematorium. The dead were transported from the concentration camps to the crematorium in freight cars. A memorial stone in the honor grove built around 1956 (section G1, to the left of the crematorium) commemorates 1195 victims of National Socialism . The stone was created by the sculptor Fritz Cremer . Verses by Walter Dehmel are on the back . In front of the entrance to the Old Cemetery there is a sculpture of a mourning woman, also by Fritz Cremer. The mourner, designed in 1947, is a replica of one of three sandstone figures originally created to commemorate the victims of National Socialism in Vienna's central cemetery .
In the old part of the cemetery there are two honorary graves of the State of Berlin :
- Franz Künstler (1888–1942), politician (SPD)
- Georg Pniower (1896–1960), landscape architect
Soldiers graves from both world wars are located in different sections of the facility. During the war in 1945, the central building with its functional facilities suffered considerable damage, but was able to resume operations as early as June 10, 1945. In the years 1950–1952 the shape of the crematorium changed, a rectangular building with a flat roof replaced the old building. After that there were hardly any structural renovations.
During the division of Germany , the Ministry for State Security used the Baumschulenweg crematorium to inconspicuously cremate victims on the Berlin Wall . The ministry members mostly appeared as people's policemen and concealed both their own identity and that of the dead. A memorial plaque for the victims was unveiled in August 2016.
Baumschulenweg crematorium
Because of construction defects and outdated technical equipment, the crematorium had to be closed in mid-1994. A new phase began with the laying of the foundation stone for a new building on August 6, 1996 and the start of operation of the crematorium on May 3, 1999. The construction company Bilfinger Berger built the new crematorium according to plans by Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank ; the construction costs at that time were 60 million DM .
The state of Berlin has to pay the lessor , VR Leasing from Eschborn , for 30 years before the crematorium becomes its property. The crematorium, which can carry out 13,000 cremations per year, thus fulfills the task assigned to it according to the funeral regulations. Outwardly based on Egyptian architecture, the new crematorium is generously designed and equipped with the latest technology. On the ground floor is the condolence hall with 29 freely arranged, aquamarine-colored concrete columns and a fountain in the middle, above which an egg hovers as a symbol of life. The columned hall has special acoustics that allow a long reverberation of eight seconds.
Since 2001 the music ensemble " ars gregoriana " Berlin has used the hall for concerts. The interplay of architecture and mostly sacred music exerts a special attraction on the audience. The condolence hall served as the backdrop for the US science fiction film Æon Flux in 2005 . Three halls of different sizes offer space for 50 to 250 mourners. Around 2800 trees grow on the site of the old part of the cemetery, which is why it is classified as a forest cemetery according to German forest standards .
New part of the cemetery
In addition to the old part of the cemetery, a new cemetery was planned in the 1930s due to the increasing need for burial sites in the south of Berlin. The site opposite the old cemetery on Kiefholzstrasse, which was used for several decades as agricultural and horticultural cultivation area and on which there was a gymnasium, proved to be suitable.
The new part of the cemetery, laid out and designed by the gardening director Pertl from 1936 to the summer of 1939, was planned as a model and was intended to be an example of modern cemetery design. It covered the area of 17.5 hectares. A stone wall, behind which there was a wide strip of green, separated him from the road. All around, native shrubs and trees enclosed the entire complex. Wide, right-angled paths led through grave fields to a larger space for memorial services and military funeral ceremonies. Around 30,000 prepared tombs should look uniform in order to symbolize the equality of people in death.
Here is the grave of honor of the State of Berlin of Alfred Grotjahn (1869–1931), the founder of social hygiene.
The main entrance is still flanked today by two identical gatehouses that were initially used as a party hall. Since 1981, a stele with bronze figures created by the sculptor Gerd Thieme from Lusatian granite has been commemorating the anti-fascist resistance fighters and fighters for the construction of socialism who are buried here. It was built in 1981 and depicts four figures symbolizing the victory of the working class. Many soldiers who died in World War II also rest on this earth . Memorial stones for war victims from Italy and Poland in section E9 bear their names or the inscription "Unknown Soldier". This is also where the last fatality on the Berlin Wall in the Treptow district , Chris Gueffroy , found his final resting place. Since August 12, 2016 there has also been a memorial stone for victims of the Berlin Wall like Gerald Thiem, who were illegally cremated in the crematorium and anonymously buried here. The bodies were disposed of under the auspices of the Stasi and with the assistance of state-loyal crematorium employees.
See also
Web links
- Baumschulenweg Cemetery - Official Homepage
- Baumschulenweg Crematorium - Official Homepage
- Baumschulenweg cemetery and crematorium - photo gallery
- Entry in the Berlin State Monument List: Old Municipal Cemetery
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Hermann Hertle : The Fatalities on the Berlin Wall 1961–1989. Ch.links, Berlin 2009, p. 22.
- ↑ First shot, then secretly cremated. In: Der Tagesspiegel . August 10, 2016.
Coordinates: 52 ° 27 ′ 39 ″ N , 13 ° 29 ′ 38 ″ E