Ohlsdorf cemetery (Hamburg)
written by graefin
on November 13th, 2008
(1 vote)
Have you ever been to a cemetery where busses drive? A cemetery with its own bus line? You will shake your head and say: “No, I’ve never been to such a place. In fact, a cemetery should be a place to find peace, a place where no sounds from the street reach your ears. There should be silence to think, to mourn, to find inner peace.”
But although there are busses it is still a silent place and a cemetery after all. In fact it is the largest park cemetery in the world. You need the bus to get from A to B. Or it will be a very long walk. All the streets together have an overall length of 18 kilometers.
The cemetery was opened in the 1870s and it is open for everybody no matter what religious denomination you have. The park dominates the cemetery. You will find bushes, trees, hedges, meadows everywhere and between all this wonderful green you find the graves. So you don’t really feel like being on a cemetery. It is wonderful to take a walk there and to have a look at the elaborate mausoleums or tombstones. And in spring there are so many blossoms! Especially the rhododendron!
Ohlsdorf has many different areas. There is for example “The Women’s Garden” (Der Garten der Frauen) where outstanding women are buried. Next to their graves there are books made of stainless steel that contain the vita of these women. So you learn what they did, how they lived and what they achieved during their lifetimes. There is a memorial for the victims of the Nazi-time and a field for the members of resistance. Also there can be found a mass grave for the victims of the Hamburger firestorm of 1943.
When you visit this cemetery to take pictures please bear in mind that this is a place where people found their last rest and where other people mourn. So try to be quiet and do not walk on the graves. Take pictures only when there are no other people around (to not disturb them) and don’t use them for promotional purpose. You reach Ohlsdorf with lines S1 or S11 direction Poppenbüttel or Ohlsdorf and then walk from the train station.
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