Katernberger Strasse cemetery

View of the cemetery with the chapel

The Katernberger Straße cemetery is a Protestant - Reformed cemetery in the Katernberg district of Wuppertal . As the rose cemetery of the Dutch Reformed community, it is known far beyond the city limits of Wuppertal due to its design based on the concept of the Herrnhuter Gottesacker .

history

The cemetery was established after the purchase of the former Gutsgeländes Good The Schaffstal 1851 at the gates of the city Elberfeld by Daniel von der Heydt . The need for an own cemetery arose from the fact that the cemetery system at that time was completely in the hands of the churches and members of the free churches were therefore prohibited from using the existing cemeteries. The cemetery, which until recently was only reserved for parishioners, was to become the first free church cemetery in Wuppertal and one of the first in the Bergisches Land . For a few years now, members from churches of the Working Group of Christian Churches in Germany and the Evangelical Alliance have also been able to be buried upon express request .

The cemetery and the cemetery chapel built in 1909 have been listed since August 2008 , and since the end of 2015 it has been one of the ten most beautiful cemeteries in Germany.

description

The cemetery, which is divided into six grave fields by the main paths, follows the concept of the Gottesackers established by the Moravian Brethren . All the graves, lying in straight rows, are extremely simple and designed only with a sandstone slab on which the names and dates of the deceased are engraved next to a number. With the simple and uniform design of the grave slab, the cemetery follows the reformed principle that all people are equal in death, which is also reflected in the overall cemetery design.

The most significant difference to the Herrnhuter Gottesackerkonzept is the design of the graves with a rose bush each , which gives the cemetery its very own visual impression in its uniformity. With regard to the proclamation character of a cemetery, the rose bushes on (should Hosea 14.6 EU ) indicate where the unfaithful nation of Israel (today with a flower lily translated, at times Hermann Friedrich Kohlbriigge in the Luther translation yet Rose ) is compared, which again should blossom when it should return to the Lord from the worldly powers. The idea of planting roses probably came from Hermann Friedrich Kohlbrügge himself.

The overall layout of the cemetery is extremely clear due to the simple graves and the small number of plants. The main paths were originally lined with avenues of several hawthorn trunks , which, however, had to be felled due to a fungal disease. The small tree population is limited to the historic oaks , beeches and a chestnut . A fallen war memorial for the fallen of the First and Second World War is located to the side of grave field A, which stands out from the other graves in its design.

Personalities

The graves of the following people who were important in the history of Wuppertal can be found in the cemetery:

Daniel von der Heydt (1802–1874),
Elberfeld banker, entrepreneur and first church master of the community
Hermann Friedrich Kohlbrügge ,
(1803–1875), theologian and first pastor of the community>
Hermann Albert Hesse (1877–1957),
Elberfeld pastor of the Confessing Church, survivor of the Dachau concentration camp
Abraham Frowein (1878–1957),
textile manufacturer
Heinz Frowein (1905–1994),
Lord Mayor of Wuppertal 1961–1964