HAMBURG:THE OHLSDORF CEMETERY

An invitation to extensive

walks in the gardens

GERMANY

The plan for a central municipal cemetery, w h i c hwas to replace small century-old churc h y a rd s ,was developed in the mid-19th century. It tookinto account the foreseeable increase in populationand the demand for individual graves, as well asgrave numbering and burial records.The Ohlsdorf Cemetery was established in 1877as a non-denominational and multi-regionalburial site, and at that time it was quite far fromtown. Today its 4 million sqm are completelysurrounded by built-up areas. A 17 km roadnetwork provides access to the cemetery; thereare 4 entrances for vehicles and two special buslines.Since its opening, nearly 1.5 million burials werecarried out and the cemetery now hosts 280,000graves. About 40% of all burials in Hamburgtake place here; in 2002 there were 1600

HAMBURG:THE OHLSDORF CEMETERY

An invitation to extensive

walks in the gardens

Previous page:In 1927 the Hamburg-bornsculptor Richard Kuöhlproduced this work taking

inspiration from Classicalmodels. He was buried atOhlsdorf in 1966, in thetomb he himself had realized

Over 200 angels embellishthe park.The idea surfacedin 1877, and it meant toprovide an image of Heaven,as the bourgeoisie of thetime figured it.

Over 200 angels embellishthe park.The idea surfacedin 1877, and it meant toprovide an image of Heaven,as the bourgeoisie of thetime figured it.

The 1926 bust of WilhelmCordes, first director ofOhlsdorf cemetery, his life-long concern, is in theRosengarten (Rose Garden).

interments and 4300 urn burials; 230 gardenerstake care of graves and all facilities.Two different landscaping trends contributed tothe current aspect of the cemetery. The firstarchitect was Wilhelm Cordes (1840-1917), ofnational and international renown, who worked38 years to create a “garden cemetery”, thusproviding a well-known example for similarcemeteries throughout Germ a n y. This early sectionstill maintains its graceful interplay betweenarchitecture, sculpture and landscape. Largeburial plots are skilfully surrounded by thickgroves while a variety of trees, often forest-like,and rhododendrons characterise the oldest partof the cemetery.The cemetery was expanded after World War I,on the basis of a project by Otto Linne (1869-1937), the first garden planning manager in

The water tower (1898) isindeed a technical structure,b u t , thanks to its ornamentalarchitecture, it fits quite wellinto the landscape.Today ithosts a small exhibition onthe famous theatre womandirector, Gerda Gmelin, setup by the Garten der Frauen(Women’s Garden)Association

A large area had beenplanned for the imposingadministration building , thatwas built 35 years later, in1911

105 urns contain ash andsoil from as many Naziconcentration camps.,ThisDenkmal der Opfer desNationalsozialismus 1933-45(Monument to the Victimsof National-Socialism, 1933-45) was inaugurated threeyears after the war.

S everal niches cut into hedgesconceal real treasures:a rt wo r k s , c r a f t wo r k s , v a l u a b l esculptures and marble reliefs

Hamburg. His plans were thoroughly consistentwith the movement for Cemetery Reform andwith the new landscaping art of that period. Hismain conceptual principles translate into strictarchitectural layouts and grave plots consideredas basic units which develop into rows and theninto graveyards proper, separated by hedge-lined alleys. Both sections of the cemetery are suggestive ofextensive walks with different features andseasonal charms, especially so in the Althambur-gische Gedächtnisfriedhof (old HamburgMemorial Cemetery), the Rosengarten (RoseGarden) and, more recently, the Garten derFrauen (Women’s Garden). In addition, there areseveral memorial sites for war casualties and thevictims of tyranny and oppression as well as thegraves of famous public figures. All throughout

the year countless visitors tread these areas,especially in late May/early June, whenrhododendrons are in full bloom.Ohlsdorf Cemetery as a whole, thanks to itsremarkable inventory of funerary monuments, isa true work of art, where contemporarystonemasonry is documented in various ways.There is evidence that almost 330 architects andsculptors contributed their work; hence, suchexpressions of past memories often achieve astatus as true pieces of art. The cemetery istherefore an open-air museum of a special kind:this unique sculpture park in the cemetery, withover 800 sculptures and relief ornaments,illustrates the memorial art of the 19th and 20thcenturies. About 6,000 funerary monumentswere deemed worthy of restoration within theframework of a specific research project.

The bridge to theRosengarten (Rose Garden)was donated by theblacksmiths association. Itspans an area of naturalmarshes, the starting pointfor an educationalenvironmental path throughthe cemetery

The Margarethenbrunnen(Margarethe Fountain) wasrealized by Eugen Christ, ablacksmith/artist, on theoccasion of the 1953 gardenexhibition. He named it afterhis wife, who had sold herjewels to pay for thematerials her husbandneeded for his piece of art

Since 1996, a small historical building hosts afunerary museum, with temporary exhibitions ofsepulchral art, under the management of avoluntary association, the Förderkreis OhlsdorferFriedhof e.V. (Society for the Promotion ofOhlsdorf Cemetery), which also provide guidedtours and lectures. The society’s archive andlibrary are also open to the public. The cemetery is operated on the basis of modernmanagement models.

(Helmut Schoenfeld, translation by G. Malcolm)

All angels in this cemeterystand on high socles.Thereason is that “Visitors, bentby their own mourning, areasked to lift up their heads”– hence, the clear messageby the silent angel is “Lookupwards!”

This huge statue of Christ(1904-5) is in the Altham-burgische Gedächtnis-friedhof (Old HamburgMemorial Cemetery), a sortof introduction to thecemetery, where senators,

jurists, patrons of the arts,scientists, bishops, priestsand artists have their finalresting place, after beingmoved here from varioustown graveyards in disuse

Since over a decade themuseum, managed by theFörderkreis OhlsdorferFriedhof e.V., providesinformation on any funeraryand cemeterial issue.Themain topics of thepermanent exhibition arecremation, the history ofthe cemetery and of thefamous figures buried atOhlsdorf, i.e. Hans Albers,Heinz Erhard, GustafGründgens and WolfgangBorchert

OHLSDORF CEMETERYFriedhof Ohlsdorf HamburgFuhlsbüttler Straße 756D-22337 HamburgPhone: 0049 (0) 40 59388-0Fax 0049 (0) 40 59388-888www.friedhof-hamburg.de

Association of Friends of OhlsdorfCemetery, HamburgFörderkreis Ohlsdorfer Friedhof e.V.Fuhlsbüttler Straße 756D-22337 HamburgPhone: 0049 (0) 40 50053387www.fof-ohlsdorf.de