Osterholz cemetery
The Osterholz cemetery in the Osterholz district of Bremen is currently the resting place for more than 100,000 deceased. With 79.5 hectares, it is Bremen's largest cemetery and one of the largest in northern Germany and one of nine garden monuments entered in the list of monuments.
history
When the Riensberg and Walle cemeteries no longer had sufficient free space at the beginning of the 20th century , the Senate decided to create a new municipal central cemetery for the eastern part of Bremen. In 1907 the farmer Kämena acquired a 67 hectare estate with old oak trees in a flat heather area between the Ellenerfeld and the Holterfeld. According to calculations at the time, this area with the existing facilities should be sufficient as a cemetery area for Bremen for a hundred years.
competition
At the end of 1909, an architectural competition for the design of the new cemetery was announced among German gardeners and architects . A creative solution was expected while preserving the existing valuable trees as much as possible.
The grave fields should be provided for single- and double-layer burials and urn burials and should be delimited by hedges and moats. In addition, plans had to be submitted for a chapel, a crematorium, guards' apartments and toilet facilities. The architecture should form a unit with the horticultural cemetery complex: One expected a work “from a single source”. This approach of demanding a holistic work of architecture and garden art was novel.
In February 1910, designs from 96 participants from all over Germany were received. The jury awarded the Hamburg architects Hermann Grage and Kurt Winkelhausen the first prize for their joint design with the keyword “The Long Pieces”, but they did not get the chance to win it. The second prize went to the joint competition design of the garden architect and later first head of the horticultural department Paul Freye and the architect Franz Seeck (both based in Berlin), who were then commissioned to carry out their design.
Other competition designs came from well-known architects such as B. Friedrich Ostendorf (3rd prize) or Hugo Wagner (purchase).
draft
The design by Freye and Seeck envisaged an axial division of the cemetery area through avenues of trees and canal-like watercourses. From the main gate with a symmetrically designed entrance square at Osterholzer Heerstraße , a four-row avenue of lime trees leads through the cemetery as a central axis, which after about a third of its entire length is continued, slightly angled in a straight line, to a north exit. At the apex of the angle it is cut by a secondary axis, on which the authors envisaged a chapel modeled on the Pantheon with a rear courtyard and wing-like side corridors on the bank of an elongated water basin. Individual areas in the north-west and south-east of the complex were given an almost landscape-like shape despite the strict, superordinate grid. According to this plan, the external appearance of the cemetery blended seamlessly into the formerly rural area.
The jury certified the successful merging of the planned buildings with the garden design, which was designed as a "charming and peculiar" solution that fits into the surrounding landscape. This strictly architecturally structured design set the trend for German cemetery design in the early 20th century. After the Ohlsdorf cemetery in Hamburg and the forest cemetery in Munich, the planning represented the further development of cemetery art in a special form.
Plant and inauguration
After the order was placed by the Bremen cemetery deputation for the slightly modified design, Freye and Seeck began working out detailed plans and implementation work for the first 35 hectare construction phase in November 1910. Garden architect Paul Freye took over the management of the work when construction began on the cemetery and joined the Bremen civil service.
First of all, the canal-like watercourses and basins were created, with the excavation of which the grave fields of different heights were filled. A measure that was necessary because of the high groundwater level. Only the paths remained approximately at the original level.
From the beginning, the main avenue was planted in its entire length beyond the first construction section in order to achieve even growth in the context of the later expansion and thus to achieve a uniform overall effect of the cemetery. Around 100,000 trees were planted as the area was completely treeless except for the old oaks of the Kämena farm. Mostly native trees were chosen for the new plantings - in contrast to the existing cemeteries on Riensberg and in Walle, where foreign conifers were an important design motif. The grave fields, accessed via ramps and stairs, were surrounded by hedges or other similar plantings and divided into small individual rooms by half-height hedges, which could be designed as special cemeteries of manageable size. The water functioned as a structuring and at the same time connecting element to the surrounding landscape.
In October 1916, in the middle of World War I , the first section of the facility was completed. The cemetery - to which a tram was set up especially for funeral trains from downtown Bremen to the main gate - was inaugurated on May 22, 1920.
Main chapel
The center of the cemetery is the chapel designed by the architect Franz Seeck . It lies at the intersection of the wide avenue of lime trees coming from the main entrance and the cross avenue of pyramid oaks that begins in the west with the gate system designed by architect Carl Eeg .
The large clinker building with the domed rotunda has a portico with Ionic columns facing west . The raised outer dome shell with a parabolic cross-section is finished off with a flat lantern clad with copper sheet . The elongated inner courtyard on the back of the building is flanked by wing-like walkways that enclose an elongated water basin. The colonnades, originally planned as open pergolas , were designed as columbaria for the burial of urns.
The main round room of the chapel was painted in 1920 based on designs by the Berlin painter Max Kutschmann . An elaborate stencil painting framing the architectural parts and freehand applied areas with figurative decorations were executed in glue or oil tempera painting with a light apple-green basic color, including illusionistically painted, slim, gray wall pillars .
The interior is characterized by twelve free-standing Doric columns in a light ocher tone with ornamented capitals , the entablature, richly structured with friezes and ribbons, and the black-gray dome with originally stuccoed gold-plated stars.
The stained glass windows in black plumbing were executed according to Kutschmann's design by the Bremen glass painter Georg Karl Rohde (1874–1959), who also designed glass windows for the Ratskeller and the cathedral .
North and South Chapel
The wing aisles leading from the main chapel are closed off by the north and south chapels. They are designed as small, octagonal prayer rooms with considerable simplicity. They can accommodate a maximum of 50 people with close seating.
restoration
In 2003, Stadtgrün Bremen and the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments began with the renovation work on the Osterholz chapel, where the old impression should be regained if possible. The restorers found the well-preserved original wall paintings from the 1920s under the unsightly acoustic wall cladding from the 1950s, which had been attached to a lath structure with rusting steel nails regardless of the original paintings.
In order to restore the original decoration of the dome, the plastic rays that were subsequently applied for reasons of sound refraction had to be removed in the 1970s, which extended radially from the eye of the dome to its base and disregarded the original design idea. The sculptural stucco stars of the dome had all been chopped off and leveled in earlier times, so that their location and size could be precisely determined, but not their original shape. They were therefore replaced by flat gold leaf stars in 1860.
The color version of the interior with its ornamented capitals, which was decorated with friezes and bands richly structured beams and dark gray dome with gold stars so far by detailed restoration studies as part of a pattern axis 2004 reconstruct that a new bill this by Farbabwaschungen, Neuverputzungen and emulsion paints - Overpainting marked areas could be dared according to findings.
In the course of the restoration work, unexpected finds revealed that, contrary to expectations, the paintings on the ring hall ceiling between the column position and the wall could also be reconstructed, albeit only in an apparently tentatively attached first version, which later suggests, like a dim little building-time photo, by a slightly different final version had been replaced, which could no longer be determined precisely enough.
With the clearly damaged, overpainted decoration of the funeral portal, it was worth exposing the original version, although it was in great need of supplementation and retouching, which also revealed traces of an alternative version that had obviously been discarded during execution. All reconstructed new versions were made using the mineral color technique with quartz sand. The color scheme of the newly framed wall areas had to be adapted to the age tone of the original paintings in order to avoid “restoring them apart”, so that the apple-green color tone appears less bright and strong than it was in 1920.
Further measures
In addition to the restoration work on the color scheme, various other important measures were carried out to restore the room, its long-term preservation and its appropriate usability.
The stained glass panes damaged by vandalism were supplemented by an art glazier using the original technique and were given protective glazing. The well-preserved terrazzo floor was cleaned and repaired, whereby a leveling and substance-reducing sanding was deliberately avoided.
The room received an acoustically optimized new sound system to compensate for the very long reverberation time that led to the radical acoustic installations in the 1950s. The speaker's pulpit from the time it was built has been repaired. The large hanging cross installed in the 1950s, which disturbed the spatial impression and covered the restored funeral portal, was converted into a transportable standing cross. The heating system and the thermal insulation of the dome have also been improved. A new lighting concept enables uniform lighting of the previously poorly lit chapel room. In the vestibule of the chapel, the findings did not permit a reconstruction of a decorative painting that was also presumed to be from the period of construction. Therefore, only the basic color was restored. A large mural from the 1950s in the Cubist style with the theme "Resurrection" was respected as a later artistic ingredient and carefully restored.
financing
Thanks to a well-known grant from the Residential City Foundation, mediated by the Bremen State Office for Monument Preservation , generous donations from the Bürgerparkverein (from the proceeds of the Bürgerpark tombola), the Waldemar Koch Foundation and the Karin and Uwe Hollweg Foundation as well as other donations as a result of the help from Bremen The work was completed by means of a call for donations initiated by Stadtgrün .
Cemetery as a park
After an urgent expansion of the cemetery was recognized and prepared during the last war , the new horticultural director Erich Ahlers began in 1948 with the assistance of his predecessor Paul Freye with the construction of the second, about 30 hectare section behind the broad transverse axis - the cemetery thus reached his initially projected size. The original geometric shape of the site was deviated from and the avenue-shaped main axis was discontinued. The main avenue got its end point at a rectangular pond. A wide transverse canal was created at the level of the original main cross-path axis, which connects the watercourses surrounding the cemetery, which have now been landscaped and designed with pond-like widenings. 120,000 trees were planted to border the newly created area. The characteristic edging of the grave fields with hedges and bedding was dispensed with in the extension part for reasons of reduced maintenance. Until they were occupied, the new grave fields were used for agriculture in the shortage period after the war. Large amounts of rubble were used to pave the roads and paths.
Further areas up to Ludwig-Roselius-Allee could be acquired in December 1967 and made a north entrance possible there. The area was laid out from 1972 in a more scenic style, including a lake-like expansion of the marginal water.
The main paths run parallel and at right angles to the wide avenue of lime trees that begins at the main entrance and the outer boundaries of the oldest part of the cemetery and are accompanied by avenues in various tree species for better orientation for visitors. There are avenues of maples , tree-hazel , birch , oak , sycamore , pyramid oaks and tulip trees . This area of the cemetery is divided into three roughly equal parts by two canals on the Queralleen. Only the southeastern part of the complex is excluded from this superordinate avenue system.
Facilities of honor
The Osterholz cemetery became a collection point for war dead , who were given perpetual rest here. Five fields of honor for the dead of World War II were integrated into the grid of the old part of the cemetery. In addition to a facility for bomb victims that was started in 1944, further honorary facilities for soldiers, former prisoners in concentration camps and other victims of the war were set up between 1947 and 1969 according to plans by Horticultural Director Erich Ahlers.
The honorary facility for bomb victims in the south-eastern area of the cemetery, at the entrance of which there is a massive sandstone cross, is surrounded by a low stone wall. Not far to the north is the place of honor for displaced persons , in whose walled courtyard there is a large wooden cross in a circle of steles adorned with coats of arms.
Between the main entrance and the chapel, to the west, is the honorary complex for concentration camp victims and German soldiers . A sandstone block with six female figures in half-relief stands on the terraced grounds, symbolizing the community in life and death - a work by the sculptor Paul Halbhuber from 1951.
Near the west entrance, next to a stone gate with the year 1951, there are two systems. With 170 graves the field of honor for the Dutch war victims who perished in Bremen and the surrounding area (the names of 63 other war victims are on the stele). It was set up on the initiative of and in collaboration with the Dutch War Graves Commission. In the immediate vicinity in the direction of the chapel is the honorary complex for foreign war victims , on which "Two mourning women" - a bronze sculpture by the sculptor Gerhart Schreiter - mourn the victims.
Tombs and tombs
In 1917, when the old cemeteries at Doventor were closed, valuable historical tombs had to give way. They were rebuilt - together with other stones from the Herdentorsfriedhof, which was closed in 1903 - in the oak and beech groves and in the foyer of the chapel. One of these tombstones from the abandoned cemeteries is that of the doctor and naturalist Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (1776–1837). From the tomb of Friedrich Delius (formerly Doventorsfriedhof) the pedestal and the winged boy figure (Genius) come from the hand of the Bremen sculptor Carl Steinhäuser , dated Rome 1839.
The graves of well-known and famous people at the Osterholz cemetery are named:
- Kurt von Goessel (1852–1895), captain of the express steamer Elbe of the North German Lloyd ; (Memorial stone, he himself went down with a ship)
- Robert Rickmers (1864–1948), businessman and industrialist; Location: a conspicuous tomb on field E on the corner of the north chapel
- Georg Droste (1866–1935), writer and poet; Location: Field R, near the path between Field R and S.
- Paul Freye (1869–1958), horticultural architect and horticultural director; Location: Field B, near the path between Field B and A.
- Richard Duckwitz (1886–1972), Senator and Mayor; Location: Field G, close to the main path towards Nordkapelle
- Carl FW Borgward (1890–1963), designer and car manufacturer; Location: a simple, larger tombstone between field L and M at the end of the path from the south chapel
- Alexander Lifschütz (1890–1969), Senator and President of the State Court; Location: approximately in the middle of field F
- Georg Wulf (1895–1927), engineer and aviation pioneer; Location: Field E, a simple, larger tombstone, near the bridge to the north chapel
Accessibility / map
The Osterholzer Friedhof lies on the border of the Bremen districts of Osterholz and Sebaldsbrück. It is therefore incorrectly referred to as the Sebaldsbrück cemetery. It is located east of the Mercedes-Benz plant.
The cemetery is easily accessible for individual traffic and public transport . Several bus lines run from the BSAG terminal at Sebaldsbrück via the Osterholzer Friedhof stop . There are also two regional bus routes that connect Bremen with the Verden district. Another bus stop is near the north entrance of the cemetery.
Individual evidence
- ^ Monument database of the LfD
- ↑ a b www.hausderwissenschaft.de (PDF; 8.7 MB) - OSTERHOLZER FRIEDHOF
- ↑ a b c d e f g h www.bremen.de (PDF file; 389 kB) Cemeteries in Bremen - the Osterholz cemetery (source: Stadtgrün Bremen from approx. 1995)
- ↑ a b www.bremen.de ( Memento of the original from December 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Osterholz chapel
- ^ Hubert Wania: 15 years of Bremen 1906–1920. Winter, Bremen 1930, p. 67.
- ↑ Monument topography, p. 79
literature
- The new municipal cemetery in Bremen-Osterholz. In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung , 41st year 1921, no. 59, pp. 365–367 and no. 61, pp. 377–380.
- Stadtgrün Bremen (ed.): Cemeteries in Bremen - Osterholz. Bremen 1995.
- Rolf Kirsch: The restoration of the Osterholz cemetery chapel. In: Denkmalpflege in Bremen , Volume 4 (2007), pp. 71–75.
- Kurt Lammek (arr.): Osterholz district. (= Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany , architectural monuments in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen , Volume 3.7.) Fischerhude 1982, pp. 30–32, pp. 77–79.
- Gerda Engelbracht: Osterholz 1860-1945. A photographic foray. Bremen 2001, pp. 19-20, pp. 66-67.
Web links
- Cemetery plan. (PDF; 372 kB) Retrieved March 8, 2011 .
- Environmental company Bremen: Osterholz cemetery. Retrieved March 8, 2011 .
- www.bremen.de - The history of the Osterholz cemetery (PDF file; 389 kB)
Coordinates: 53 ° 3 ′ 50 ″ N , 8 ° 55 ′ 16 ″ E