Cemetery sights in Berlin
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Friedhof Schöneberg
Today’s celebs may prefer posh Mitte or Zehlendorf as their place of residence, but throughout the 20th century Schöneberg was where ‘it’ was at. Germany’s first actress to hit the big time in Hollywood, Marlene Dietrich was born Marie Magdalena von Losch at Leberstrasse 65 in 1901. She returned to Schöneberg after her death in 1992, and the ‘Blue Angel’ now makes her final home in a surprisingly unglamorous plot on Friedhof Schöneberg. Her tombstone says simply ‘Marlene’ along with the inscription: ‘Here I stand on the marker of my days.’ Look for the map inside the cemetery entrance to locate the grave, which is near the Fehlerstrasse (north) side of the …
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Alter St Matthäus-Kirchhof
This pretty cemetery, created in 1856, was a favourite among Berlin’s 19th-century bourgeoisie and is filled with opulent gravestones and memorials. Celebrities buried here include the Brothers Grimm and physician Rudolf Virchow. A memorial tombstone honours Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and fellow conspirators in the July 1944 plot against Hitler. Their bodies were initially buried here, but SS members had them exhumed, cremated and their ashes scattered. The cemetery office has a pamphlet with names and grave locations of these and other famous Berliners. It’s also available as a PDF: go to ‘Download’ on the website, then select the ‘englisch’ PDF for Alter St Matt…
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Jüdischer Friedhof Weissensee
First laid out in 1880, this enormous Jewish cemetery is the final resting place of more than 115,000 people, including such prominent players as the painter Lesser Ury and publisher Samuel Fisher. Bauhaus fans should check out the cubist tomb designed by Walter Gropius for Albert Mendel. For tomb locations consult a chart near the entrance. Also here is a grave containing 90 Torah scrolls that were damaged during the 1938 pogroms. There is also a monument honouring the victims of the Holocaust. The cemetery is near the terminus of bus 200.
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Friedhöfe an der Bergmannstrasse
The section of Bergmannstrasse east of Marheinekeplatz is of interest only for this cluster of cemeteries, which were a favourite ‘six-feet-under’ destination in the 18th and 19th centuries. Gustav Stresemann, chancellor during the Weimar Republic and Nobel Peace Prize winner of 1926, is one of the more recognisable names, as are the architect Martin Gropius, the sculptor Adolf Menzel and Schiller’s girlfriend, Charlotte von Kalb.
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Friedhöfe vor dem Halleschen Tor
Berlin’s oldest cemetery has been receiving new members continuously since 1735 and is filled with beautiful tombstones, many of artistic merit. Famous Berliners buried here include the architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, the painter Antoine Pesne, the writer and literary-salon patron Henriette Herz, the poet and painter ETA Hoffmann and the composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
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Jüdischer Friedhof
Berlin’s second Jewish cemetery opened in 1827 and, behind a thick wall, hosts such famous dearly departed as the artist Max Liebermann and the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. WWII brought vandalism and bomb damage but it’s still a pretty place with dappled light filtering through big old trees. Men must cover their heads (free skullcaps by the entrance).
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Alter Jüdischer Friedhof
What looks like a small park was in fact Berlin’s first Jewish cemetery, destroyed by the Nazis in 1943. Some 12,000 people were buried here between 1672 and 1827, including the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. His tombstone (not the original) stands representative for all the six-feet-under residents.
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Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof
Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof is the cemetery with the greatest concentration of celebrity corpses in Berlin. Architect Friedrich Schinkel, writer Heinrich Mann and former German president Johannes Rau are among the famous 6ft-under residents.
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