Way of the Dead
The Georgen Parochial Friedhof IV in Friedrichshain
A granite grave monument in the Georgen Parochial IV Friedhof - due to time and weather, the names of the deceased are barely readable.
In the trendy Friedrichshain neighborhood along Boxhagener Straße, few visitors will notice the small yellow-brick church with a temporary sign that reads, simply, Alte Kapelle (Old Chapel). Fewer still will venture past that old chapel into the small graveyard behind it.
There you can find the Georgen Parochial Friedhof IV, a Protestant community cemetery that dates to the early 19th century. Then, the area around Boxhagener Platz was known as Friedrichsberg and Boxhagener Straße was a simple dirt road that led to the manor estate of Boxhagen-Rummelsburg in the south.
Unlike other large European cities such as Vienna and Paris, Berlin has very few large municipal cemeteries. There are two reasons for that.
First, for most of its history, Berlin was not a large municipality. Prior to the Greater Berlin Act of 1920, the districts outside of Mitte were independent villages, towns and cities. Second, both within Berlin itself - and the surrounding villages - most cemeteries were associated with religious congregations and were composed of small plots surrounding a church or synagogue.
In 1794, Frederick Wilhelm I prohibited new burials within the inhabited areas of the city, which led to the creation of the larger cemeteries in outlying districts - like the Jewish cemetery in Weißensee. As the city grew outside its medieval walls, new burial plots were established outside the residential districts, which were then enclosed by newer developments as the city grew.
This post from the Berlin Senate website explains:
New cemeteries were now established outside the city walls. A comparison of old and modern maps of the city will show how the city has developed: development progressed, and the cemeteries lay like a ring around it, in every epoch. Examples are the cemeteries built in front of the Hallesches Tor (Halle Gate), or near Bergmannstraße.
- Berlin Senate Department for Urban Mobility, Transport, Climate Action, and the Environment.
Graves in the Georgen Parochial Friedhof IV. Families plant small gardens over their loved one’s grave, and bring candles, lanterns and other decorations.
Friedrichsberg, founded around 1770, was primarily a colony of Bohemian and Hugenot immigrants who tended market gardens to supply the city with food. By the early 1800s, it had gradually transitioned to becoming an industrial district dominated by factories and tenement housing.
The cemetery was established in 1867 with a dedicated 20,000 square meters. Twelve years later, the yellow brick chapel was constructed. Its Classical design was the work of architects Gustav Knoblauch and H. Wex. The funeral chapel later served as the home of the Protestant congregation, The Church of the Promise, but they moved away in 1993. Since then, it has been a community theater.
As is common in many cemeteries throughout Europe, the gravesites are leased rather than purchased. If the lease is not renewed by the family or group that maintains the grave, it is removed. Thus, there are not many old graves there. When we walked through early this spring, there were notices on several monuments asking family members to contact the cemetery association.
One notable grave still maintained is the monument dedicated to three people who were murdered by the Nazi regime. Fritz Riedel, Kurt Ritter, and Willi Heinze were members of the Communist resistance group organized by Robert Uhrig. They were executed by the Nazis at Brandenburg Penitentiary in 1944 and 1945 and their remains are interred here and marked with a memorial stone.
The monument to the resistance fighters Fritz Riedel, Kurt Ritter and Willi Heinze. The top inscription, “Die Toten Mahnen” can be translated as “The Dead Admonish” or “The Dead Remind.” The inverted red triangle indicates they were members of the political opposition.
According to public records, there are 224 registered cemeteries in the federal state of Berlin, of which 182 are still open - meaning burials can still take place there. The 36 that have been closed to further use are still dedicated places of rest and maintained by their respective institutions. Eighty-six cemeteries are administered by the state government, with the remaining operated by legally independent church communities.
Most denominational cemeteries are the property of the Protestant church communities, but there are nine Catholic cemeteries, five Jewish cemeteries, one Russian-Orthodox cemetery, one Muslim cemetery, one British cemetery and two other cemeteries.
Community cemeteries are also not just places where residents go to mourn or remember their loved ones, they are also used as public green spaces and as sites for public events, like concerts, art exhibits, or literary readings. The website, Mein Kiez-Mein Friedhof, maintains a list of these events throughout the city.
The former cemetery chapel on Boxhagener Straße is now a children’s theater.
More About the Georgen Parochial Friedhof
Wikipedia: Georgen Parochial Friedhof IV
Evangelische Friedhofsverband Berlin Stadtmitte: Georgen Parochial Friedhof IV
More About Cemeteries in Berlin
Including where some of Berlin’s most famous denizens are laid to rest.
Berlin.de (Berlin government website): Cemeteries and other Burial Sites
The Berliner: Gravely Does It: Berlin’s Most Beautiful Cemeteries
—What’s New?—
Reading
Some more interesting reads this week:
Libcom.org: A Short History of the Berlin Squatting Movement, December 1980 - July 1982.
Zeitgeist: The Future of Holocaust History.
Watching
One of my favorite German language YouTubers, Anja Winter, has this guide on the proper way to pronounce these German carmakers.
Listening
Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? (Part 1)
open.spotify.com/episode/2cVtYXaDCkcwb1UBrWshje?si=325d07c4e49a4879
Have an Idea?
Do you have a topic related to Berlin or Germany or an idea for a story you’d like me to write about? Send me an email or leave a comment on the website.
That’s it for this week!
-Cathi
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