Westfriedhof (Aachen)

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Old main entrance Westfriedhof I

The Aachen Westfriedhof is a burial site in the west of the city of Aachen , which was set up in 1889/90 as a denominationally separate facility on both sides of the arterial road from Aachen to Maastricht about one kilometer from the Dutch border. Both parts of the cemetery with a total size of 279,000 m² are listed under the common postal address Vaalser Straße 334 in Aachen and are connected by a road overpass.

history

Mourning Hall Westfriedhof I
Industrial graves of the von Wedel family, Suermondt, Cockerill, Lochner

In the 19th century there were only two cemeteries for the residents of the city of Aachen, on the one hand the Aachen East Cemetery, which was built in 1803 for the Catholic and the Güldenplan cemetery, which has been occupied since 1605 in the area of ​​the later Aachen City Garden for the Protestant citizens.

The lack of space for burial corridors in the city of Aachen in the further course of the 19th century led the city to purchase a large piece of land on Vaalser Strasse from the Laurensberg community in order to set up a new cemetery here. First of all, the facility to the south of the course of Vaalser Strasse, known as Westfriedhof I , was set up for Protestant citizens and was occupied from January 4, 1889, with a current size of a little more than 62,000 m². Some of the first and important graves as well as the cemetery chapel built there in the neo-renaissance style are now listed as historical monuments. At the same time the old evangelical cemetery Güldenplan was no longer occupied.

Only one year later, on May 1, 1890, the occupation of the almost 217,000 m² cemetery for the Catholics, which was laid out north of the street and was then designated as Westfriedhof II , began. While the Aachen East Cemetery was initially reserved for the Aachen parishes of St. Adalbert , St. Peter and St. Foillan , the new West Cemetery II served all other parishes.

particularities

The special features of the complex include the Capuchin monastery church built on the eastern edge of Westfriedhof II and the centrally built Campo Santo (Italian = holy field). In addition, a memorial for the forced laborers of the Second World War and one for star children and children who died prematurely were set up on Westfriedhof I opposite .

St. Francis Monastery Church

St. Francis

The Capuchin monastery church , completed in 1893 in neo-Gothic style , was consecrated in 1896 and consecrated to St. Francis . The responsible fathers did not take on any pastoral tasks, but offered services for the local parts. The monastery church, which was in the meantime owned by the city of Aachen and had been rented by the diocese of Aachen , threatened to be rededicated into a columbarium at the beginning of the 21st century , but could be incorporated into the Aachen parish of St. Michael and thus - for the time being - still maintained . The Orthodox Fraternity in Germany is currently represented there by a parish priest.

Campo Santo

Campo Santo

In the middle of this cemetery, on the initiative of the Aachen center politician Joseph Lingens and according to plans by the city architect Joseph Laurent, the Campo Santo was built between 1899 and 1905 , a rare neo-Gothic crypt hall that is now a listed building. This facility is unique in the Rhineland and, in its shape, in all of Germany.

The building consists of a 24 meter high tower-like central structure and four side wings with a total length of 62 meters. The interior of the building is in Art Nouveau style and the individual wings contain a total of 38 mostly artistically designed tombs, each with eight grave cells in the floor. The system impresses with its design, from simple wall painting to artfully crafted mosaics and elaborate sculptures. Well-known sculptors such as Carl Burger and Lambert Piedboeuf as well as Wilhelm Pohl and Carl Esser , who work in a joint workshop, are represented here with important sacred works of art.

The names of important industrialists, politicians and clergymen who are buried here and who once shaped the city of Aachen reflect an essential part of the more recent history of Aachen.

  • Campo Santo - interior view 3.JPG
  • Campo Santo - interior view 2.JPG
  • Campo Santo - interior view 5.JPG
  • Campo Santo Aachen interior view.JPG

Memorial for forced laborers

Memorial plaque for the deceased Russian slave laborers

A memorial stone on the cemetery grounds and a plaque from the Ways Against Forgetting project remember 148 Soviet slave laborers buried there. These are a small proportion of the approximately 2500 forced laborers employed in Aachen. From 1942 onwards, these were housed in a large collective warehouse on the Grüner Weg and in a number of smaller warehouses on the respective premises of larger Aachen companies.

The treatment of forced laborers in different companies was different. In some, they were sponsored by the workforce and, for example, provided with food from their own stocks. In other companies they were not even allowed to go to the shelters during bombing raids.

Little is known about the respective fate of the individual dead who rest in the Westfriedhof. For some, the date of death indicates the effects of the Allied bombing raids of August 1944. Others are believed to have died as a result of forced labor in Aachen.

The following is noted on the plaque:

“148 people from the Soviet Union rest here, men, women and children who were deported to Germany for forced labor during the war. Many died from inhumane treatment. "

Memorial for star children and children who died young

Memorial for dead and premature babies

In 2003/2004 a memorial for star children and children who died young was set up at Westfriedhof I. From 2003 it was initially the star children who were commemorated with a voluntary farewell or burial organized by the clinical pastoral care of the University Clinic Aachens . For these children, who are born dead and weigh less than 500 grams, there is actually no compulsory burial in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Since May 2004 there has also been a memorial for children who died prematurely, miscarriages and stillborn children, especially children who were not buried; also for children whose graves are far away as well as for children whose gravesite has already been closed. The memorial consists of a central memorial stone of the Aachen stonemason Andreas Radermacher and further individual steles, on which the parents are given the opportunity to attach memorial plaques engraved with their names.

Grave sites (selection)

Caspar Giani burial site
August von Kaven burial site; Sculptor Karl Krauss
Ludwig Pelzer burial site

Web links

Commons : Westfriedhof (Aachen)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Description of the Campo Santo Aachen in the WDR media library
  2. ↑ Memorial for Forced Laborers
  3. ↑ Star Children Memorial Westfriedhof

Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 13 ″  N , 6 ° 3 ′ 3 ″  E