Hauptfriedhof Mainz

The Hauptfriedhof is the main cemetery of Mainz, the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was established in 1803 when Mainz was under French administration. It became the model for the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris. It is the burial place of prominent persons, also the honorary graves. The cemetery is a cultural heritage site and prominent urban green space.

History

When Mainz was under French administration, cemeteries became rare due to the closing of church institutions. A new Christian cemetery was established in 1803 when Jeanbon St. André was the French préfet of the department of Mont-Tonnerre (Donnersberg).

Initiated by the mayor, , it was placed in the Zahlbach valley on former monastery grounds in 1803. It had been a burial site in Roman times. Later, some bishops of Mainz were buried there including Aureus of Mainz. The cemetery became the model for the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris.

The Hauptfriedhof was first a square ground of about eleven morgen that was expanded several times. It has now an area of 22 hektar, roughly in 75 "fields" in the central part, 14 in the urn grove across Saarstraße. The paths form a grid, with the main paths lined by trees. The cemetery contains old trees and other plants, and is regarded as quality urban green space of Mainz.

Monuments

The Hauptfriedhof contains historic graves and monuments, interesting for historians and art historians. There are graves for single people, families, and also groups, including victims of wars, French soldiers, and honorary graves. The cemetery features two Gruftenstraßen (grave roads) with high monuments of important Mainzer families. The oldest gravestone dates to 1805. 230 gravestones and monuments are listed historic monuments.

Graves of notable people

The Hauptfriedhof holds the graves of important Main personalities: scientists, industrialists, musicians, writers, politicians and people of the Mainz carnival.

Burials include:

• Bernhard Adelung (1876–1943), politician (SPD), mayor of Mainz and minister-president of Volksstaat Hesse
• Jeanbon St. André (1749–1813), French préfet
• Peter Cornelius (1824–1874), composer
• Eduard David (1863–1930), jurist
• Eduard Duller (1809–1853), poet, writer, preacher
• (1919–2002), mayor 1965 to 1987
• Paul Haenlein (1835–1905), engineer
• Ida Hahn-Hahn (1805–1880), writer, poet, founder of an order
• (1801–1866), sekt producer (Henkell & Co.)
• Karl Holzamer (1906–2007), philosoph, founding Intendant of ZDF
• Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970), historian
• (1830–1897), building master for the city
• (1824–1876), merchant, founder of
• (1816–1865), building master for cathedral and city
• Adam Franz Lennig (1803–1866), theologian at the Main Cathedral, Cathedral dean from 1852
• Ludwig Lindenschmit der Ältere (1809–1893), bedeutender Prähistoriker. Gründer des heutigen Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums (RGZM)
• Karl von Loehr (1875–1958), deutscher Architekt-->
• (1756–1844), Mainz Maire 1793 and 1800–14, mayor 1831–34
• (1811–1874), mayor 1865 to 1871, music publisher
• Fritz Straßmann (1902–1980), chemist, one of the pioneers of nuclear fission
• Philipp Veit (1793–1877), painter
• (1811–1865), co-founder of , first
• Kathinka Zitz-Halein (1801–1877), writer

Gallery

Awards

Hauptfriedhof Mainz was included in the list of the most important cemeteries in Europa by the European Association of Significant Cemeteries in 2006. The cemetery placed third in a 2012 poll of the most beautiful cemeteries in Germany, after the Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg and the Waldfriedhof in Munich.

References

Further reading

• Rupert Krömer, Sabine Theiss-Krömer (eds.): Ort der Stille. Von der Kraft der Endlichkeit. Verborgene Leidenschaften. 200 Jahre Mainzer Aureus – 2000 Jahre Heiliges Tal. Ein Bürgerprojekt. Vitruv Verlag, Mainz 2006, 4th edition 2008, .
• Wolfgang Stumme: Der Mainzer Hauptfriedhof. Menschen und ihre letzten Ruhestätten. Leinpfad Verlag, Ingelheim 2010, .
• Wolfgang Stumme: Der Mainzer Hauptfriedhof II. Menschen und ihre letzten Ruhestätten. 31 neue Porträts. Leinpfad Verlag, Ingelheim 2013, .
• Hermann Wucher: Historische Führung auf dem Mainzer Hauptfriedhof: Grabstätten bedeutender Persönlichkeiten sowie eine Sammlung erhaltenswerter Inschriften, 3rd edition, Ginsheim-Gustavsburg 2009.
• : Der Mainzer Friedhof. Seine Geschichte und seine Denkmäler. Zur Erinnerung an sein 100-jähriges Bestehen. Verlag der Stadt Mainz, Mainz 1903.

External links