Melaten cemetery

Melaten is the central cemetery of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which was first mentioned in 1243. It was developed to a large park, holding the graves of notable residents.

Plan of Melaten
The cemetery's oldest chapel

Name

The name "Melaten" refers to a hospital for the sick and lepers from the 12th century. The "hoff to Malaten" (modern German: Hof der Maladen, or "yard of the malades") is first mentioned in a 1243 document.[1]

Location

Melaten is in the north of the municipal district of Lindenthal.[2] It is surrounded by streets, in the south Aachener Straße, in the east Piusstraße, in the west Oskar-Jäger-Straße and the Melatengürtel, and in the north Weinsbergstraße. The 435,000-square-metre cemetery had 55,540 graves in 2008, and is the largest cemetery in the city.

History

Melaten is located approximately one kilometre west of the city district of Cologne, just beyond the Bischofsweg, the historical boundary between the territory of the city and that of the archbishop. The hospital therefore fell under the jurisdiction of the archbishop, and was in spiritual hands.

Wooden cross bearing only the inscription "Du" (You) on the children's graves field of Melaten Cemetery; disappeared by now

Transport

On the Cologne Stadtbahn, the nearest station to the cemetery is Melaten.

Preceding station   KVB   Following station
1
Universitätsstraße
toward Bensberg
toward Frechen-Benzelrath
7
Universitätsstraße
toward Zündorf

References
  1. Schmitz-Ehmke, Ruth (1967). Rheinland. Deutscher Kunstverlag. p. 406. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  2. Adenauer, Konrad; Gröbe, Volker (1988). Lindenthal: die Entwicklung eines Kölner Vororts. Bachem. ISBN 978-3-7616-0899-9. Retrieved 30 September 2012.

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