Melaten Cemetery Part II

Autumn. Very.

In this second post about the Melaten-Cemetery in Cologne i will talk about facts.

First the name: Melaten comes from the french word "malade" which has the same meaning in English: Malady. It was a crude hospital for the people suffering from leprosy.... Basically they were left to die there, so speaking of a hospital not really accurate.

Then the use of the Melaten got even more horrific: It used to be the place where the capital punishment took place. It had a gallow and the last execution took place in 1797.

The last and lasting use of this place however is the cemetery. And it goes down to Napoleon that it exists. Before his occupation of the Rhineland the burials were done beside or even inside the churches. That became a huge issue because the population increased dramatically and there was simply no space left for the dead. So for hygienic reasons the Melaten Cemetery was planned and build and finally opened in 1810.

It's philosophy was based on the the big model in Paris, the Pere Lachaise so it makes the Melaten Cemetery one of the first Park Cemetery in Europe.

Detail 

This is an extreme BW-Image (still getting to know Lightroom...)

Another copy of one popular angel i've seen in quite a few cemeteries in Germany so far.
It's always a beauty to behold.

 This is another example of a the occasional protestant grave.... And it's as ugly as the other ones. I'm still wondering why in the name of all that's holy they go for the Kindergarten-Look. No Proportions, no beauty, no style.

Still, better than the dull headstone where nothing but a name and some dates appear.

Another Detail of the protestant grave: They even depictured grapes on the body of Jesus... My, oh my. That's not exactly subtle, is it?


Anyway, since Gothic is one of my favourite Topics and since i was in Cologne anyway it was unavoidable to visit the Cologne Cathedral....

Cologne Cathedral: Front

Inside

The stained glass is quite interesting, however: Some few years ago one big window was designed by Gerhard Richter and it was a subject of a very heated discussion:

Gerhard Richter Window: Looks a bit like a pixelated adult picture.... 

The cardinal of the Cathedral isn't very fond of it: He'd rather have pictures of brutally slain martyrs on it, but even he tried very hard he could not stop the abstract window.

It is a fine piece of  art though, but still  i'm with the cardinal....

What connects Stephen King with the Ramones?

I know, that's a simple one. But this isn't a quiz show and i was desperate for a snappy headline. And i failed miserably. Again.

Anyway, this post is quite unusual. It is about a cemetery, but it's not one you'd expect here:

One odd thing about it is the fact that this Cemetery is in Herford, Germany. The german term "Tierfriedhof" is there, too, but still it's a bit baffling that it is an international cemetery. I can only guess (it's an educated guess though) that this is because in Herford are quite a few barracks of the british forces and even today there are thousands of british soldiers and their family living here.

What is (at least in my opinion) very disturbing here is the fact that the amount of caring you see and the amount of grief you sense is here a lot stronger compared to "normal" cemeteries where humans lie.

It's called a Pet Cemetery, but i'd rather prefer "Dog Cemetery" since there are only dogs. No Cats, no rats, no birds not even a hamster. Just dogs.

Another rule i'm breaking today: Normally i avoid pictures with the name on the headstone. But since here they are (come on! it's true!) just animals i'll risk it.

The quality of the pictures is not that extraordinary, but that wasn't the point here. I'm merely documenting the graves.

Here we go:

Melaten Cemetery, Cologne

Last weekend was finally the chance for me to visit the famous "Melaten-Friedhof" (Melaten Cemetery) in Cologne. It's one of the most important cemeteries in Germany, being one of the first to have a park cemetery and having a vast collection of notable sculptures.

Since our hobby is Geocaching we did two birds with one stone: There is  a multistaged Geocache hidden there which took us on a tour around this beautyful spot.

See for yourself:

Part of a roof on a big mausoleum

Familiar Angel (seen in Hamburg and Hannover as well)

Astonishingly beautiful example

And another one. Trumpet down is quite common though. 

Twenties style. Not roaring but still twenties. 

Add caption

My favourite there. Can't say why, but there you are... 

The most famous sculpture there. Let me introduce you "old Nick". 

Old Nick again.

It's a bit of a shame that this one is the most famous one there since it's not my definition of beauty. And it's a bit disappointing, too when you actually get there. It's in a quite corner and surrounded by trees *very* nearby so you are really struggling to get a proper photograph of it since light is everything. You could help yourself with a tripod but i travelled without one. High Iso is the key but then you get high noise as well. So heavy editing and b/w is the solution.

And the really dissapointing thing about "Old Nick": The scythe is made of plastic. Ts.

Johannis Cemetery Bielefeld -revisit-

It was a long time since i've actually visited a cemtery and that itself is a shame. But i was lucky yesterday, because the whole family (and a befriended one) went with me because we were out geocaching.

It happened that one multi-staged geocache is acutally located on the Johannis Cemetery in Bielefeld. And this Cemetery is my favourite within reach of my hometown.

While the others were searching for the hints for the cache i was looking around to take beautiful (or at least interesting) pictures. The Cemetery itself is not that huge, but there is still plenty of space for new graves. So at some places it is more than a park than a cemetery.

And it is a bit of a celebrity cemetery for all the rich and famous people that lived and died in Bielefeld. Not that many, though. Bielefeld is not that famous...

I found some nice examples of traditional cemetery sculptures there, but the more interesting ones are quite modern. They are not always beautiful but they are interesting.

Here's what i've done yesterday:

Fine example of beehive on a grave.

 This beauty is one of my favourite. She's a good example that modern art is not neccessarily ugly. Quite the opposite.

Another fine example of modern art

"oldschool-angel"

Art Deco, Detail on a huge Tombstone

The most modern Angel i've come across so far.

Male grief. Or practicing camouflage?

Bârad Dûr?

The beautiful Saccomanno-clone

The "original" is to be found in Staglieno, Genoa

Another Post about Brugge, Belgium

I've just recently browsed though my pictures and i spotted some interesting details about Brugge: The first visit was in January 2009. It was freezing cold but sunny so it was a good opportunity to make pictures that capture the gloom of the winter (which fits for the location).

The second visit was in April 2011 and it was unusually hot. Spring was all around, and you could sense that summer was not far away...

Here is a picture i've take in January 2009:

Heavy decay on statue 

This is the same statue in Spring 2011:

Where is all the moss gone?

Detail of the same Statue:

2009

2011

I bet that this happens every single year. I wasn't aware that the change of seasons does alter some sculptures in such a radical way.


To end this post i'd like to show you -again- the famous skull at the cemetery brugge. I took some pictures of it at the first visit, but i was never really satisfied with the results. I was new to the subject of photography and i made everything wrong...

This time though i was satisfied with the results and i'm ready to show you it without being embaressed....

And since wer're on the subject of skulls: Here are some details at one richly carved grave on the same cemetery:

They even thought of the scythe...

Camposanto Staglieno angain. This time focused on beauty. Again.

I've got something to celebrate with you: This week my 5.000th visitor arrived. I'm not sure who he or she is, but i'm taking the opportunity to thank you all. You make it worth for me to carry on this blog. So come and visit regularly.

The pictures of this entry are handselected gems from the Camposanto Staglieno, Genoa, Italy. It will always be my favourite cemetery because there is so much unbelievably beautiful to discover. I'm always struggling when i have to describe it to somebody who wasn't there so i won't bother today to do it to you again. Let the pictures speak for themselves...