Burbach forest cemetery (Saarbrücken)

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Waldfriedhof Burbach, cemetery chapel with adjoining rooms
Park-like arrangement of the cemetery grounds
Plastic “mourners” at the entrance to Hubert-Müller-Straße

The Waldfriedhof Burbach is a cemetery in the Saarland capital Saarbrücken . It was opened in 1875 as the cemetery of the then independent town of Malstatt - Burbachs in the Burbach district. With an area of ​​28.5 hectares, the burial site is currently the second largest cemetery in the city of Saarbrücken. It is still in use.

History and layout

Originally, the Burbach forest cemetery was designed as a small, rectangular cemetery complex, but soon the occupancy area was no longer sufficient due to the population explosion in the up-and-coming industrial location of Burbach. In 1885 and 1901, the area was expanded. Today's neo-Gothic morgue and the cemetery gardener's house at the entrance area were built between 1903 and 1905. The cemetery area was expanded further in the direction of Hubert-Müller-Straße. During the First World War, the cemetery was expanded in a northerly direction. At that time, most of the burials within the city of Saarbrücken were carried out in the Burbach cemetery. In contrast , the main cemetery in Saarbrücken , which was created in 1914, was initially accepted more cautiously by the population. Today's main cemetery initially served as a burial place for fallen soldiers from the First World War. It was only released for civil burials in 1916. In the following year, 1917, the inner-city cemeteries in St. Johann and Alt-Saarbrücken were closed to accommodate new graves.

Honor graves

Turner monument

There are two grave areas for the dead of the two world wars of the 20th century at the Burbach forest cemetery. In field 46, a separate honorary cemetery area was set up for the victims of the Second World War . In 1926, the Burbacher Turnerbund erected the so-called "Turner Monument", a stone obelisk, among its members in memory of the victims of the First World War.

The following personalities and honorary citizens are buried at the Burbach forest cemetery:

  • Heinrich Barth (politician) (1895–1949), member of the state parliament and mayor, buried in field 27.
  • Egon Reinert (1908–1959), former Prime Minister, buried in box 45.
  • Hermann Neuberger (1919–1992), former DFB President, buried in field 28.
  • Fritz Zolnhofer (1896–1965), Saarbrücken artist, honorary grave in field 28
  • Trudeliese Schmidt (1942–2004), opera singer
  • Community graves of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Catholic priests, box 34.

Urban I project

The Burbach forest cemetery reflects the cemetery culture of the time around 1900 to today's visitor. The historically valuable tombs, including memorials for directors of the Burbacher Hütte , for foremen, miners and innkeepers, were created by the Office for Urban Greenery and Cemeteries (formerly cemetery and funeral home) of the EU funding program URBAN I restored in 1999–2001. The work was carried out by the stonemasons, stone and wood sculptors 'guild of the Saarland, the Chamber of Agriculture of the Saarland, the Saarland Horticultural Association (specialist group cemetery gardeners) and the cemetery gardeners' trust.

In addition to the restoration of the grave monuments, a redesign of the grave fields as well as path construction and expansion work were carried out by trainees in the profession of "landscape gardener" at the Burbach training center under the direction of the Office for Urban Greenery and Cemeteries.

In 2014, the Burbach forest cemetery was ranked 12th among the most beautiful cemeteries in Germany as part of the independent industry prize “Bestattungen.de Award”, which has been awarded annually since 2011. The award was made in cooperation with the 2nd Cemetery Culture Congress in Bad Windsheim . The jury consisted of representatives of the Evangelical Church , the bereavement counseling, the cemetery design and the funeral industry. The specialist congress on cemetery culture strives to maintain and further develop cemetery culture and is organized in cooperation with the Evangelical Church.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://saarbruecker-friedhoefe.de/friedhoefe/waldfriedhof_burbach , accessed on July 12, 2020.

Web links

Commons : Waldfriedhof Burbach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 15 ′ 6.8 ″  N , 6 ° 57 ′ 0.5 ″  E