Living town history does not only start with, but in this case also on this cemetery. Sometimes your own hometown is much more interesting than you usually think. The „Stadtgottesacker“ was originally built 1557, is included in the list of the most beautiful cemeteries in Germany and is deemed to be a masterpiece of Renaissance north of the Alps.

It rarely takes more than to amble thoughtful along the outer walls. To read the inscriptions on the vaults. The streets names in your hometown, of no relevance just a minute ago, get a meaning, a story, at one blow. In the middle, on the area that’s surrounded by the vaults, the normal people are buried. After all, this was used as a normal cemetery in former times (and still is today). Nevertheless it gives creeps reading „died 1789“ on a tombstone.

For me it’s unbelievable that I’m here for the very first time. I know more things about Paris than about my own hometown. Time to change that.

If you are interested, there is a german wikipedia article about the Stadtgottesacker. Many of the public characters buried there are listed. And there are a few nice pictures.