Hochheimer Höhe main cemetery

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Cemetery building and main entrance

The Hochheimer Höhe main cemetery is the central cemetery for the city of Worms and the districts of Hochheim and Neuhausen . The park cemetery , which was laid out between 1899 and 1902, is designated as a monument zone . After several extensions, it covered around 25 hectares in 2012. Within the main cemetery are the new Jewish cemetery for the city of Worms and the Worms (Hochheim Hill) Cemetery , a war cemetery of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission .

history

Mourning hall in the new Jewish cemetery

At the end of the 19th century, the capacity of the previous city cemeteries was exhausted: The "Friedhof am Bahnhof" (today Albert-Schulte-Park ), which was only laid out in 1840, had already been closed in 1878, as an extension was not possible due to the almost complete renovation. and the “Rheingewannfriedhof” opened in 1878 was at risk of flooding. Therefore, in 1898, immediately after the incorporation of Hochheim, the Worms city council decided to build a new central cemetery above the new district. For the construction of the cemetery, the city initially acquired 30  acres (7.5 ha) of arable land compared to the previous Hochheim cemetery.

The planning of the cemetery complex was first entrusted to the city architect Karl Hofmann and then to his successor Georg Metzler . Construction of the first building began as early as 1899, and Metzler's overall concept for the park cemetery was approved by the city council on September 4, 1900. Although the cemetery buildings were only partially completed, the cemetery was opened on March 22, 1902, and the Rheingewannfriedhof cemetery was closed at the same time. The buildings were handed over to the city on January 20, 1905.

The first expansion of the originally 2 hectare cemetery was necessary in 1907; like all expansions until 1917, it followed Metzler's plan. Since the old Jewish cemetery in Heiliger Sand no longer had any space for burials either, a new Jewish cemetery was laid out east of the cemetery in 1911. In 1925, the capacity of the cemetery was again exhausted, and under Horticultural Director Thierolf an expansion of 5 hectares was planned, which connected to the park cemetery with three axes. The extensions up to 1963 took up - partly changed - Thierolf's generous axial concept. Only then did economic aspects flow into the planning to a greater extent, as the proportion of burial areas had previously been relatively low due to the park-like design. The last cemetery expansion so far in 2009 was used to create a Muslim part of the cemetery.

The settlement of a private crematorium in the cemetery, decided by the Worms city council in 2007 , has not yet been implemented.

description

Late Gothic cemetery cross
Ehrenfeld for the veterans of the Franco-German War 1870/71

The cemetery is a north-south oriented, long rectangular wooded park, the main entrance with the funeral hall in the form of a chapel, the morgue and the administration buildings is located in the south-west corner of the complex. As part of the expansion in the 1970s, an operating building located centrally within the cemetery was created for the cemetery nursery.

Metzler's original layout is bordered in the shape of a horseshoe by a circumferential main path, and to the north are the three axes designed by Thierolf. To the east of it are the younger, less generous extensions after 1963, they enclose the new Jewish cemetery on three sides. In the northeast is the Muslim burial ground.

The cemetery chapel and the administration building are neo-Romanesque sandstone buildings that incorporate design elements of the Worms Cathedral and the nearby mountain church in Hochheim. The funeral hall is a cross-shaped central building with a crossing tower. The design of these buildings comes from city architect Hofmann, while his successor Metzler designed the Jewish mourning hall in the new Jewish cemetery.

In 1909 the late Gothic cemetery cross of the station cemetery, created by Master Thomas in 1493, was moved to the new main cemetery. It originally stood in the Amandus cemetery near the Liebfrauenkirche . The curved body of Christ with flowing hair and fluttering loincloth shows the influence of Niclas Gerhaert van Leyden , and a connection between Thomas and the circle around Hans Seyfer is assumed. The hill-like base of the cross is reminiscent of the place of the skull .

There are numerous grave fields with honorary graves within the cemetery:

There are also numerous private tombs of monumental value. The avenue of lime trees planted in 1901 on the Höhenstraße to the west of the cemetery is protected as a natural monument.

literature

Web links

Commons : Hauptfriedhof Hochheimer Höhe  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerold Bönnen : History of the City of Worms . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1679-7 , p. 765 .
  2. ↑ Irene Spille: Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Volume 10 (City of Worms). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft , Worms 1992, ISBN 978-3-88462-084-7 , p. 230.

Coordinates: 49 ° 38 ′ 48.2 "  N , 8 ° 20 ′ 10.5"  E