Park cemetery Neukölln
The state-owned park cemetery Neukölln is by far the largest cemetery in Berlin's Neukölln district with 202,180 m² .
It was created in 1949 and is one of the younger park cemeteries in Berlin . Noteworthy are the extensive park-like overall complex, the sculpture of Persephone by Max Kruse , an ornamental fountain and five sculptural scooping points with sculptures .
Location and character of the park
The cemetery is located in the Britz district between the allotment garden colony “Zur Windmühle” and the Britzer Garten , which was subsequently used by the 1985 Federal Horticultural Show . The cemetery is addressed as Buckower Damm 148 and the service yard (Buckower Damm 170), for the mourning hall of the urn grove, Leonberger Ring 54 is added. The site partially extends into the BUGA area, whereby Block 7 - including the grave site of the regionally known radio commentator Hans Hertz - is a fenced " exclave " in the Britzer Garten and is generally only allowed to be entered by relatives for grave maintenance. The main entrance is set back behind the sports field at Buckower Damm 148 between the Britzer Mühle and the entrance to the Britzer Garten with the Fette Henne fountain . Access to the parking lot is possible by car via Hüfnerweg, from there it is 200 meters to the entrance (parking time three hours with parking disc). The cemetery has a driveway with special parking and access to the mourning hall (Buckower Damm 148).
The south-eastern area of the Britzer Garden belonged to the cemetery and cuts off the urn grove from the main area. After its separation, the grove got its own celebration hall, its entrance is west of the Britzer Garden on the high voltage path . The locomotive sheds of the Park Railway (Leonberger Ring 52) are located on the site of the planned cemetery nursery, adjacent to the service yard .
history
The agricultural land of the Britz estate came into the ownership of the city of Berlin in 1924 through the sale of the last manor Wrede . At the end of the 1920s, the Britz airfield project for the German Aviation Research Institute was planned to be southwest of the railway line . The areas became vacant when the DVL decided in favor of Adlershof . As a result, the area was designed for urban allotment garden colonies in the 1930s and the Neukölln main cemetery embedded therein. The planned area over the Hüfnerweg (then Lichtenrader Weg) for the main cemetery was 63 hectares and 7.5 hectares for a cemetery nursery up to the high voltage route. The cemetery was opened in 1949. The projected area in the northwest for the cemetery initially remained unused and unencumbered. With the BUGA 1985, four hectares were added and the remaining part was used for the Britzer Garden. The BUGA section to the Buckower Damm entrance cut through the cemetery grounds and separated the Urnenhain from the park cemetery.
In the park-like complex, trees alternate with light lawns. The grave sites are spread across the park landscape. Grave-free areas such as meadows give the impression of an urban park and act as a local recreation area . Parkfriedhof Neukölln is almost completely enclosed by the Britzer Garten and the allotment gardens, a quiet inner-city green oasis .
Wells and scooping points
In front of the main entrance, between a modern metal construction with bicycle stands, is the free sculpture Ewiger Frieden , a steel work by the Berlin artist group Odious, founded in 1982. The artist group also created the work Zeit-Weg-Zeit in 1984 in the neighboring Britzer Garten for the BUGA opening and 1997/98 the footbridge and its sculptures in the Schöneberger Natur-Park Südgelände .
On the cemetery grounds there is a sculpturally significant ensemble of fountains and scoops.
Ornamental fountain
The ornamental fountain is behind the main entrance. The water feature from 1984 consists of a large and two smaller semicircular pools made of natural stone . On the rear edge of the upper basin rises a plate with an open arch that harmonizes with the semicircles of the basin. Water falls from the plate in a thin stream into the large basin. It then flows over a cascade into one of the basins below. The smallest basin is also filled from the main basin via a water-spouting bronze fish head.
The total height of the well system is two, the total length four and the total width two and a half meters. The design comes from Klaus-Michael Jopke.
Scooping points
About 30 years older than the ornamental fountain are five scooping points, which are distributed over the entire area and are sculptural largely coordinated. Motifs form a female figure and four animal figures.
Scoop owl
The 3.00 meter long, 2.50 meter wide and 1.80 meter high facility consists of two opposing oval pools with a narrow, pointed elevation at their junction. An owl figure sits enthroned on the elevation and, like the entire complex, is made of artificial stone . The work, whose artist is unknown, probably dates from 1956/57.
Water carrier scoop
The water carrier system by the sculptor Katharina Szelinski-Singer dates from the same year 1956/57 . A woman's figure, striding forward, carries a bucket of water on her head, which she holds with both hands. The figure crowns two basins with travertine covers , which are nested in one another in a slightly stepped height. The length of the entire work is 2.50 meters, the width also 2.50 meters and the height 1.80 meters. Katharina Szelinski-Singer also designed the rubble woman in the Hasenheide park . The fact that a female figure was chosen for this work, in contrast to the other animal motifs, is very likely due to the fact that Katharina Szelinski-Singer almost exclusively modeled female figures and heads in her artistic life.
Heron scoop
The heron scoop also shows two semicircular basins that are set against one another on their flat sides. The figure of a heron rises in the middle . The artist and the year of creation are unknown, this work probably also dates from around 1956/57.
Fish scoop
This work differs significantly in its design from the other scooping points. Instead of the semicircular shape, it shows two crescent-shaped basins and - apart from the suggestion of a fin - has no attached figure. The fountain is the only one without figurative representation due to its abstract form . The shape of the scoop is reminiscent of the fish symbol of the early Christians , a religious symbol that is still used today , which was supposed to stand for a return to the original Christian values in a cemetery and in the post-war years. Viewed as a pure representation of animals, the fish also fits in well with the other themes of the fountain cycle.
The fountain defies a clear and simple interpretation. The back of the larger pool continues upwards over the edge of the pool and forms an arched triangle with a hole. In contrast to the other scooping points, the artist has only indicated the second basin here and attached it as a pointed sickle. The triangle can be read as the dorsal fin or the head of the fish with the hole as the eye. The basin, which is covered with limestone and closed, could then be interpreted as the caudal fin of the Christian fish symbol.
The length of the artificial stone work is 3.00 meters, the width 1.50 meters and the height 1.30 meters. The sculptor was probably the later Bremen Academy professor Gerhart Schreiter (1909–1974, 1953 Cornelius Prize in Düsseldorf ), the year of creation probably 1956/57.
Capercaillie scoop
This work only partially follows the design principle of the other scooping points. The work consists only of a comparatively flat and almost rectangular basin made of artificial stone with a shell limestone cover. On the shorter side of the edge of the pool there is a tall, narrow stele, which is flattened at an angle and at the top bears the figure of a wood grouse . This work, which is in the separate urn grove, probably dates from 1956/57. The sculptor was probably Annemarie Haage . The dimensions are 3.00 meters in length, 1.50 meters in width and 2.70 meters in height.
Persephone by Max Kruse
To the west of the celebration hall is a monumental seated figure by the sculptor Max Kruse . The four-meter-high sandstone figure represents the Greek goddess of the dead , the underworld and fertility, Persephone and was moved to the park cemetery in 1958.
Different information is available about the date of origin. While "Sculpture in Berlin" dates the work to 1890 and specifies Königstrasse in Zehlendorf as the original location , Thieme-Becker mentions 1916 from 1928. After that, the sculpture was one of Kruse's last sculptures and was in the Villa Arnhold am Wannsee . The coal king and art patron Eduard Arnhold had adorned his garden , which is right next to the Liebermann Villa , with sculptures from his extensive art collection, including probably Persephone.
Graves of honor, personalities
In contrast to many Berlin and Neukölln historical cemeteries, the Park Cemetery has no grave monuments worth mentioning. There is still an honor grave in the cemetery. This is located as an exclave in the Britzer Garten. It is the grave of Kurt Exner , district mayor of Neukölln for the SPD, industrial clerk, and city elder . Kurt-Exner-Straße in Pankower in the Prenzlauer Berg district is another honor for Kurt Exner .
The following personalities lie in the park cemetery:
- Theodor Görner , resistance fighter against National Socialism, " Righteous Among the Nations "
- Willy Großmann , city elder, local politician, resistance fighter against National Socialism
- Ella (Johanna Hedwig Luise) Kay , local politician, city elder, resistance fighter against National Socialism; Another honor: Ella-Kay-Straße in Pankow
- Walter Nicklitz , architect, SPD city councilor, city elder; Another honor: Walter-Nicklitz-Promenade in Berlin-Gesundbrunnen
- Hans Hertz, radio commentator (Block 7 in the Britzer Garten)
See also
literature
- Hans-Jürgen Mende: Lexicon of Berlin tombs . Haude & Spener, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-7759-0476-X
- Architects and Engineers Association of Berlin (Ed.): Berlin and its buildings, Part X, Volume A Systems and buildings for supply, (3) funeral services . Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn, Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-433-00890-6
Web links
- The fountains in the Parkfriedhof at Berlin.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sheet 4031 of the official map series city map of Berlin from 1930 and 1938 ( Memento of the original from November 16, 2016 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.
- ↑ List of Berlin's state-owned cemeteries (PDF).
- ↑ Odious artist group at bildhauerei-in-berlin.de ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Website of the group itself
- ↑ The fountains at Berlin.de
- ↑ bildhauerei-in-berlin.de ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 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.
- ↑ Kruse, Max . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 22 : Krügner – Leitch . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1928, p. 18-19 .
Coordinates: 52 ° 25 ′ 48 ″ N , 13 ° 25 ′ 36 ″ E