Hauptfriedhof Mainz

Hauptfriedhof Mainz
Crematory
Details
Established	1803; 221 years ago (1803)
Location	Mainz
Country	Germany
Coordinates	49°59′42″N 8°15′0″E / 49.99500°N 8.25000°E / 49.99500; 8.25000
Type	Public
Size	22 ha (54 acres)

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 Deutscher Ehrenhof honorary graves. The cemetery is a cultural heritage site and prominent urban green space.

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).^[1][2][3]

Initiated by the mayor, Franz Konrad Macké [de], 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.^[3] The cemetery became the model for the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris.^[4]

The Hauptfriedhof was first a square ground of about eleven morgen that was expanded several times. It has now an area of 22 hektar,^[5] 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.^[5]

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,^[3][6] and Deutscher Ehrenhof honorary graves.^[7] 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.^[3]

The Hauptfriedhof holds the graves of important Main personalities: scientists, industrialists, musicians, writers, politiciana and people of the Mainz carnival.^[3]

Burials include:

• Bernhard Adelung (1876–1943), politician (SPD), mayor of Mainz and minister-president of Volksstaat Hesse
• Jeanbon St. André (1749–1813), French préfet^[8]
• Peter Cornelius (1824–1874), composer^[3][8]
• Eduard David (1863–1930), jurist^[8]
• Jockel Fuchs [de] (1919–2002), mayor 1965 to 1987^[8]
• Paul Haenlein (1835–1905), engineer^[8]
• Ida Hahn-Hahn (1805–1880), writer, poet, founder of an order^[8]
• Adam Henkell [de] (1801–1866), sekt producer (Henkell & Co.)^[3]
• Karl Holzamer (1906–2007), philosoph, founding Intendant of ZDF^[3]
• Eduard Kreyßig [de] (1830–1897), building master for the city^[8]
• Christian Adalbert Kupferberg [de] (1824–1876), merchant, founder of Kupferberg-Sektkellerei [de]^[3]
• Joseph Laské [de] (1816–1865), building master for cathedral and city^[8]
• Franz Konrad Macké [de] (1756–1844), Mainz Maire 1793 and 1800–14, mayor 1831–34^[8]
• Franz Schott [de] (1811–1874), mayor 1865 to 1871, music publisher^[3]
• Fritz Straßmann (1902–1980), chemist, one of the pioneers of nuclear fission^[3]
• Philipp Veit (1793–1877), painter^[3]
• Carl Weiser [de] (1811–1865), co-founder of Mainzer Carneval-Verein [de], first Branddirektor [de]^[8]
• Kathinka Zitz-Halein (1801–1877), writer^[8]

• 
  Jeanbon St. André
• 
  Franz Conrad Macké
• 
  Franz Freiherr Gedult von Jungenfeld
• 
  Peter Cornelius
• 
  Hans Rohrbach

• 
  Hans Klenk
• 
  Friedrich Kellner
• 
  Central area

Hauptfriedhof Mainz was included in the list of the most important cemeteries in Europa by the European Association of Significant Cemeteries in 2006.^[9] The cemetery placed third in a 2012 poll of the most beautiful cemeteries in Germany,^[5] after the Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg and the Waldfriedhof in Munich.^[10]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hauptfriedhof Mainz.

• 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, ISBN 3-937562-00-1.
• Wolfgang Stumme: Der Mainzer Hauptfriedhof. Menschen und ihre letzten Ruhestätten. Leinpfad Verlag, Ingelheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-942291-14-9.
• Wolfgang Stumme: Der Mainzer Hauptfriedhof II. Menschen und ihre letzten Ruhestätten. 31 neue Porträts. Leinpfad Verlag, Ingelheim 2013, ISBN 978-3-942291-65-1.
• Hermann Wucher: Historische Führung auf dem Mainzer Hauptfriedhof: Grabstätten bedeutender Persönlichkeiten sowie eine Sammlung erhaltenswerter Inschriften, 3rd edition, Ginsheim-Gustavsburg 2009.
• Alfred Börckel [de]: Der Mainzer Friedhof. Seine Geschichte und seine Denkmäler. Zur Erinnerung an sein 100-jähriges Bestehen. Verlag der Stadt Mainz, Mainz 1903.
• Giebeler, Marcus; Siggemann, Jürgen; Zibell, Stephanie (2012). Grabfeld 71 (in German). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden gmbh. ISBN 978-3-515-10105-9.

• "Hauptfriedhof Mainz". Wo sie ruhen (in German). Retrieved 10 December 2024.
• Kirschstein, Gisela (30 October 2024). "Gruft zu vergeben: Paten für denkmalgeschützte Gräber auf dem Hauptfriedhof Mainz gesucht". Mainz. Retrieved 10 December 2024.