Stralsund cemeteries
There are several cemeteries in the Hanseatic city of Stralsund , and not all of them are managed . Some of the history of the cemeteries goes back well into the city's founding time in 1234. Since the older of the cemeteries were originally laid out on the grounds of the Stralsund churches, these burial fields are called churchyards .
History overview
The first burial places appeared in the 13th century. Such places for the dead were next to the four parish churches St. Nikolai , St. Marien , St. Jakobi and St. Peter and Paul (which is no longer available), the monastery churches St. Johannis and St. Katharinen , the monastery of St. Annen and Brigitten , the Gasthauskirche, the Gertrudenkirche and around the Heilgeistkirche .
It was common for the dead from wealthy families to be buried directly in churches. The burial places were arranged according to social class in the choir , in the nave , in the cloister or in the churchyard.
The buildings next to the churches quickly became dense, so that the space in the church yards was very limited. At the latest with the first deaths from the plague , the churchyards became too small. The parishes began to build cemeteries on the outskirts of the city at the beginning of the 14th century.
The Reformation brought the demand for a separation of the burial places from the churches. However, funerals were carried out in the churches in Stralsund until the middle of the 18th century. For fear of epidemics, the Swedish government issued a ban on these burials in churches in 1778, but this was circumvented. Funerals were held in the city's churchyards until the end of the 19th century.
The cemeteries, built for lack of space, were initially designed like groves. They were located on the city limits and soon came up against spatial limits, because Stralsund was a fortress until the beginning of the 19th century.
Over the course of history, both burial culture and understanding of the history and meaning of cemeteries have been subject to constant change.
The Stralsund church yards and cemeteries
The Stralsund churches and cemeteries are listed in alphabetical order below.
Franconian cemeteries
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The Frankenfriedhöfe ( Alter and Neuer Frankenfriedhof ) are no longer used as burial sites.
In 1710 there was a great plague epidemic in Stralsund, as a result of which the Gertrudenfriedhof in the Franconian district experienced an overcrowding. This made it necessary to build a new cemetery.
The Frankenfriedhof was consecrated in 1713. It is located on a slightly elevated site that was still used as a defense in the 17th century. During this time, the cemeteries were transformed from pure burial sites to cemeteries designed for horticulture. The old Franconian cemetery was designed in a strictly geometrical manner.
Around 1820 the cemetery was expanded to include a southern part. The northern and southern parts are separated from each other by a driveway that leads from Frankendamm . For this purpose, four cross paths were laid out at right angles. The outer border is a wall made of field stones that is still preserved today.
In 1928 it was first planned to close the Old Franconian Cemetery. In the middle of the 19th century it had reached its occupancy limit. However, funerals were still carried out until 1965. From 1986 the cemetery was cleared and turned into a park. However, many historically valuable systems were destroyed in the process. A last surviving grave slab with the inscription “Carolina Helena Johanna v. Pollet d. 1797 ”was destroyed by vandals in 1998.
Among others, the councilor and mayor of Stralsund Israel, the scientist Otto Fock and the poet Karl Lappe were buried in the old Franconian cemetery.
A drawing from 1856 shows the first plans for a new plant in the Franken-Feldmark, which was still used as a pasture. Like the Old Franconian Cemetery, the New Franconian Cemetery was designed in a strictly geometrical manner with main and secondary roads, avenues and rows of trees.
Also in this cemetery only a few graves are left. The Stralsund city planning director Ernst von Haselberg and in 1949 the composer Georg Meißner were buried here; both graves can no longer be found. It is thanks to a private initiative that the grave of the doctor Carl Pogge was preserved.
In 1976 the Neue Frankenfriedhof was closed.
French cemetery
The funeral complex , known as the French cemetery, was laid out in the ankle holes in 1865 . The 52 French soldiers and officers who had died during their internment in 1870/1871 on the Stralsund Dänholm were buried here, which is why the cemetery is popularly named.
The very low water table soon resulted in the closure of the cemetery as a burial place. After a new train station was built at the beginning of the 20th century and the area around the ankle bones was redesigned, the cemetery disappeared. Today there are no more indications to be found.
Inn church cemetery
The inn church was located in today's Marienstraße . It no longer exists and the churchyard for it no longer exists.
Gertrudenfriedhof
The Gertrudenkirche was built at the beginning of the 14th century. It was in front of the Frankentor, which is no longer in existence, on today's Frankendamm . In a preserved testament of 1335 Gertrude Cemetery is called.
The church was demolished in 1547. The cemetery, however, continued to operate. It was primarily intended for the poorer population. A copper engraving from 1652 shows a square with a large cross in the middle . Residents of the Heilgeist Hospital and the Frankenvorstadt were buried here.
During the siege of the city by the troops of Wallenstein in 1628, the cemetery was destroyed by the residents in such a way that the churchyard hill was built there as a defense system.
After the successful defense, the cemetery was returned to its purpose. However, after it was completely overcrowded as a result of the plague epidemic of 1710, the city council commissioned the building of the Franconian cemetery in 1712 . The Gertrudenfriedhof was then no longer used for funerals from 1713. Today the area is built on with houses.
Jakobikirchhof
The Jakobikirchhof was divided into two parts. On the north side of the Jakobikirche was the Green Cemetery , which served as a burial place until at least 1840, and on the south side the Bare Cemetery , where the last burials took place around 1777.
During the bombing raid on Stralsund on October 6, 1944 , the houses and trees that had previously been close to the church were destroyed. Trees were planted on the north side in 1954 and a small park was created.
Jewish cemeteries
In the past, Jews were repeatedly exposed to expulsions and persecution, in the course of which the burial sites of the communities were often destroyed. The tombs were destroyed or otherwise used; they were even used for church buildings .
Jews in Stralsund came from the west during the German colonization in the east, but were largely expelled from the city around 1500. They were only allowed to resettle in Stralsund in the 18th century. The street name Judenstrasse allows conclusions to be drawn about their settlement. However, burial sites from the Middle Ages no longer exist. Burials were after the permission of the resettlement of Jews in Stralsund in 1777 by an edict of the Swedish King Gustav III. mostly done in the places Sülze and Ribnitz .
Jewish cemetery in Niederhof near Brandshagen
The city of Stralsund refused to give the Jewish community a place within the fortress walls. Therefore, the community resorted to the offer of Chamber Councilor Joachim Ulrich Giese , who gave her a place to use as a cemetery free of charge on his estate in Niederhof near Brandshagen . Funerals were held here until 1855. Of the 60 tombs preserved before the First World War, some were excavated and used in Niederhof as a step at the house entrance. The National Socialists left the cemetery undamaged. In 1955, 38 preserved tombs were found in the cemetery. In 1997 there were 28, which are now in the middle of a forest .
Restored stones with writing to the west
Layout of the Jewish cemetery from the northeast
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Jewish cemetery directly in Stralsund
In 1850, the Jewish community was finally able to set up its own burial place within Stralsund. This is located on today's Greifswalder Chaussee and is surrounded by a wall. The oldest surviving tombstone dates from 1855.
In 1912 the cemetery could be expanded. During the National Socialist era , the Jewish community lost its legal status and ended its existence in 1938. In 1942 the Nazis sold the property to the city; Funerals no longer took place here. The remaining Jews were given a small space in the New Franconian Cemetery.
The grounds of the cemetery were redesigned as a memorial in the 1950s. The tombs of Adolf Wertheim's family have also been preserved .
In 1997 the Jewish community of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania got the cemetery back into its ownership. Between 2000 and November 2008, the community had the burial place renovated: the surrounding wall was restored, the tombs worked up, grave inscriptions renewed and the entrance area upgraded by restoring the pillars and renewing the gate. After the work was finished, a central square with a memorial stone and a seating area was created.
Entrance gate
Row of graves,
including the Wertheim grave
Catholic cemetery
Stralsund had become Protestant with the Reformation . The small community of Catholics therefore had to bury their dead in the cemeteries or churchyards used by the Protestants. A congregation was founded in 1775 , and from 1842 it succeeded in setting up its own place for burials. This Catholic cemetery was outside the Stralsund fortress on today's Greifswalder Chaussee near the Jewish cemetery .
In 1912 the community laid out a new cemetery with linden trees , maple trees and ash trees that are still preserved today . This cemetery was expanded in 1941.
Mariakronfriedhof
The cemetery, established in the 14th century, was near today's Wolfgang-Heinze-Straße . In 1350 the Maria Magdalena Chapel was donated for this cemetery, and in 1421 the Brigittenkloster Mariakron was founded in the immediate vicinity .
The cemetery was expanded and is still listed as such on a fortress plan in 1733. Today neither the monastery nor the cemetery exist anymore.
Marienkirchhof
The parish church of St. Marien was still surrounded by houses on the north side (towards the Neuer Markt ) and on the west side until the middle of the 19th century . There were cemeteries on both the north and south sides of the church where burials were carried out. From 1868 to 1871, the northern churchyard was redesigned into a green area by municipal decision. For this purpose, the houses standing there were demolished. The gardens remained in this form until the Second World War. At the end of the 19th century, burials in the southern Marienkirchhof were stopped and the square was landscaped. The linden trees and chestnut trees planted there are still standing today.
The northern churchyard was again used as a burial place after the Second World War. The Soviet Cemetery of Honor has been located here since 1945 .
Nikolaikirchhof
The Nikolaikirche is mentioned for the first time in 1276. It is located in an area that is bordered by Badenstrasse , Bechermacherstrasse , Semlower Strasse , Alter Markt and Ossenreyerstrasse .
The churchyard was abandoned around 1890. In 1892 an association planned to expose the church and to plant the churchyard. However, the project was stopped in 1897 by the Prussian government. The churchyard was planted anyway, around 1900 linden trees were planted that are still standing today.
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The houses facing Semlowerstrasse, however, were destroyed in the bombing raid on Stralsund on October 6, 1944 . In 1970 the resulting open space was landscaped and plane trees were planted on the line of the former houses.
Soviet cemetery of honor
The cemetery of honor for the fallen of the Red Army is located in the former northern Marienkirchhof between the Marienkirche and the Neuer Markt . It was created in 1945 on behalf of the Soviet commander. A grove of honor bounded by a wall contains graves of Soviet soldiers.
In 1953 the city administration had a memorial erected here for the Soviet soldiers who died in the fight against Hitler's Germany. The stele-shaped monument was replaced by an obelisk in 1967 and the entrance gate, designed as a kind of triumphal arch , was torn down.
St. Jürgen (Knieperfriedhof)
The St. Jürgen Friedhof is located in the Knieper district, nestled between Hainholzstraße , Prohner Straße and Kedingshäger Straße .
In 1278, the churchyard near the hospital called St. Georg at the time ( the name Jürgen was more common in northern Germany , so the hospital was soon called St. Jürgen) was laid out for the dead of the community. The hospital was located in the middle of the city (today's old town ). It financed its operation mainly through donations from the population of the still young city. Garden land was one of those donations .
On such a donated garden land, the new St. Jürgen Kirchhof was laid out in 1325 with the permission of Duke Wartislaw IV. It was no longer directly at the hospital. It was located a little outside today's city center, but still within the city limits, for example in the extension of the Hospitaler Bastion and the Knieper Bastion out of town near the Knieperteich.
Initially, only the dead from the poorer population were laid to rest here. The richer families continued to have their dead buried in the church yards of the Marienkirche and the Nikolaikirche .
Due to its location, the cemetery did not have its own chapel or celebration hall. That has never changed until today - the dead were honored in a Stralsund church or celebration hall and then brought in a more or less large procession to the cemetery and buried there.
Because of the expansion of Stralsund into a fortress with mighty, extensive fortress and ramparts, the cemetery had to be abandoned in the 17th century. During the siege in 1628, the churchyard had become an obstacle to the fortifications. In the past, various sieges had repeatedly resulted in damage to the churchyard. At the same time, this time brought with it the paradox that the dead on both sides were buried there.
Evidence from this time no longer exists in the 21st century; Due to the turmoil of the times and also because no great emphasis was placed on historical records, there were no logs or notes on burials.
In 1675, the city council of Stralsund passed the resolution to create the cemetery on the area where it is still located today. Furthermore, the wealthier families had their dead buried in the cemeteries near the main churches or in the tombs within the churches.
It was not until 1715 that the rich were buried in the St. Jürgen cemetery. For example, the place of burial of the Princess von Putbus is here. In 1778 the Royal Swedish Government banned burials inside the city walls. The St. Jürgen cemetery became increasingly important as a burial place. With the spirit of the Enlightenment , the meaning of a cemetery also changed from 1795. Worship of the people continued even after their death, burial places were laid out.
In 1844 the cemetery had to be expanded for the first time, this was done to the west. The new part was landscaped from the start. With the second extension in 1865, the northern wall was made of clinker bricks.
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Two main avenues made of linden trees were laid out in the cemetery .
Between the two main routes there was a smaller middle route and some cross connections. Numerous solitary trees have been planted between the paths, which are otherwise seldom found in northern Germany .
From 1873, funerary chapels and wall graves were created on the tomb wall in the form of an L, the longer part of which represented the northern boundary and the shorter part the western boundary (at that time). Imposing grounds testify to the importance (and economic strength) of the families of the dead.
Another expansion took place between 1913 and 1920. The area to the west of the previous boundary was also used as a cemetery with landscaping. When a Berlin master builder had the cemetery restored and measured, new quarters were created and the burial areas were redesigned to look like a park. The advent of cast-iron machine-made crosses replaced the wrought iron grave crosses that had been used until then , which, in contrast to crosses used in southern Germany , were made without much ornamentation. The same happened with the stone tombstones, whose design was now also possible by machine.
The First World War and the Second World War also resulted in a high number of deaths for Stralsund. The dead of the First World War were probably buried in the western part of the cemetery, but nothing has survived after the redesign of the facilities. In 1944 a war cemetery was created in the northern part .
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After the end of the Second World War, still in 1945, the central cemetery opened in Stralsund, reducing the importance of the St. Jürgen cemetery.
The official last funeral took place here in 1964. However, exceptions were later allowed, e.g. B. for deserving citizens of the city. Urn burials continued until 1982 .
In 1986 numerous graves were cleared and many alterations were made. It was planned to convert the old cemetery into a park ; the plan was not implemented for financial reasons. Since 1990 the cemetery has been a protected park , the two main avenues with their linden trees as protected avenues .
In the years after the political change in the GDR , statues and other important, valuable grave decorations such as crosses , angels or Jesus statues and others were lost. Theft of non-ferrous metal is widely believed to be the cause.
In 1992, the cemetery administration had the design redesigned, evictions were no longer carried out. New fences in 1995 and 1996 underlined the character of a closed park. In 2000 an inventory of all tombs was carried out. At the beginning of the 21st century, the development concept from 2003 will be implemented step by step: The two avenues will be preserved, replanting is only planned if the (outstandingly preserved) tree population is damaged. The solitary trees will continue to be cared for, as well as shrubs and bushes. Unfortunately, no quick action is possible here either, as the city's finances do not allow this.
The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge and the help of numerous young people as part of a work camp led to the fact that in 1999 three grave fields could be redesigned for the dead of the Second World War and the dead could be identified by name. On October 3, 2006, a thief stole 42 of the 116 copper tablets from the war cemetery; he was never identified.
In the 2010s, the possibility of re-cultivating parts of the cemetery was repeatedly discussed. The city rejects this, however, with reference to the expenditure required at short notice (water, etc.).
The oldest preserved tomb in the St. Jürgen cemetery is located directly at the main right entrance from Hainholzstrasse: right next to the former fountain is a tomb plinth from 1730 or 1739.
At other burial sites, since they were family sites, when other family members died due to lack of space on the grave inscriptions, the names of earlier deceased were often deleted in favor of the recently deceased, which makes it difficult to prove the history. More precise records have only existed since the beginning of the 20th century, research is also made difficult by the constant remodeling and the irregular layout of the cemetery. Thus, in preserved sources there is often a reference to trees and plants near the location of a grave, but this reference is almost worthless in the case of new plantings etc. and a determination is no longer possible.
Ferdinand von Schill is one of the important personalities buried here . The burial site was only laid out in Stralsund long after Schill's death. Schill's headless body was anonymously buried here by the French, along with those of many of his fellow combatants. It was only thanks to the attention of a cemetery gardener that the grave could be marked. The tomb, which still exists today, was later erected here. On the grave a slab announces: “To have wanted great things is great. … “This record was stolen after 1990; the plate seen today is an exact replica of the original.
Other preserved tombs are those of General von Arnfeldt, scientist Rudolf Baier (founder of the Kulturhistorisches Museum ), factory owner Carl Becker, factory owner and shipowner Carl August Beug, engineer and vice-consul Gerd Beug , mayor Arnold Friedrich Otto Brandenburg , wine vinegar manufacturer Eduard Bollmann, painter Elisabeth Büchsel , Businessman and councilor Günther Bonhaventura Friedrich Crome, architect Ernst Joachim August Dalmer , antifascist Albert Dähmlow , librarian Carl Johann Dähnert (author of the Low German dictionary), military historian Hans Delbrück , linguist Berthold Delbrück , mayor Wilhelm Friedrich Denhard , natural scientist Otto Dibbelt (founder of the German Meeresmuseum ), Mayor Johann Albert Dinnies , Mayor Friedrich August Erichson , Mayor Karl Gustav Fabricius , Mayor Ernst Gronow , Mayor Johann Carl Heinrich Hagemeister , Antifascist Wolfgang Heinze , Master Builder C arl Kankel, builder Arnold Kankel, antifascist Karl Krull , mayor David Lukas Kühl , naval officer Diedrich Johann Longé , theologian Gottlieb Christian Friedrich Mohnike , grammar school director Johann Ernst Nizze , grammar school director Carl Hermann Schulze, mayor Carl Georg Schwing , mayor Carl Friedrich Tamms and councilors and manufacturers of the Weyergang family.
St.-Peter-and-Paul-Kirchhof
The church of St. Peter and Paul was one of the four large parish churches in Stralsund. It no longer exists today; it was mentioned in a document for the last time in 1321. It was located in what was then Neustadt, probably near today's Judenstrasse . In the Stralsund town book of 1312, a churchyard is attested in their vicinity.
Central cemetery
At the beginning of the 20th century the city developed plans to build a "main cemetery". From 1920, the area on Prohner Chaussee was earmarked for this. It was not until 1939 that the burial site, initially known as the main cemetery , was laid out according to plans and under the direction of horticultural inspector Hans Winter . Under the influence of strong nationalistic tendencies, also of the horticultural culture , oak trees , beech trees , birch trees , maple trees as well as elderberries and wild roses were planted.
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The outbreak of the Second World War made it difficult to continue the work. The Heroes' Cemetery planned in 1941 was never realized. The people who died in the bombing raid on Stralsund on October 6, 1944 were the first to be buried here.
In the 1950s, a celebration hall was built and an avenue of linden trees was laid out as the main path to this celebration hall. At the same time the cemetery was expanded to the north. In the 1970s, a grove of honor was created to commemorate the victims of the 1944 bomb attack . This has been a recognized war cemetery since the late 1990s.
The cemetery is still in use. Established as an example of the cemetery reform movement of the 20th century, it now reflects the change in cemetery culture in the 21st century with its increasing proportion of urn and alternative forms of burial. As the number of graves decreases, the Stralsund Central Cemetery is increasingly developing into a landscaped place for coping with grief, contemplation and quiet relaxation.
The historian Hellmuth Heyden and the painters Erich Kliefert , Katharina Bamberg and Edith Dettmann are buried in the cemetery, which has been known as the central cemetery since the mid-1950s .
literature
- Fritz Adler : Stralsund burial places. In: Pommersche Jahrbücher 33, 1939, ZDB -ID 217929-5 , pp. 3-11.
- Karl-Heinz Bernhardt , Fritz Treichel: The Jewish burial place in Niederhof. In: Baltic Studies NF 47, 1960, pp. 111-136, urn : nbn: de: gbv: 9-g-289997 .
- Angelika Pfennig: Brick & Green. Garden culture in the Hanseatic city of Stralsund. Edition Herre, Stralsund 2003, ISBN 3-932014-15-4 , pp. 209-240.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ St. Peter and Paul - the lost fourth town church of Stralsund. ; accessed on January 6, 2019.
- ↑ Boslau, Fehmel, Freudenberg: Development study St. Jürgen Friedhof (Kniperfriedhof). (PDF; 3.93 MB) In: stralsund.de. June 2002, accessed May 24, 2020 .