Schosshalden cemetery

Schosshalden Cemetery
Details
Established	1877
Location	Bern
Country	Switzerland
Coordinates	46.953°N 7.477°E / 46.953; 7.477
Type	Public, non-denominational
Website	bern.ch
Find a Grave	Schosshalden Cemetery

The Schosshalden cemetery (in German: Schosshaldenfriedhof) is a cemetery at Ostermundigenstrasse 116 in Bern.

Overview

It lies on the border to the Ostermundigen municipality, has been opened in 1877 as a replacement for the rose garden and then extended several times. It has rare wild plants, many species of birds, bats and small animals. A nature trail provides information on over 200 trees and shrubs.

The Schosshaldenfriedhof contains the family grave of Paul Klee, with a bronze plaque and the following quote:

I cannot be grasped in the here and now. For I reside just as much with the dead as with the unborn. Somewhat closer to the heart of creation than usual. But not nearly close enough.[1]

The Schosshaldenfriedhof appears in Friedrich Dürrenmatt′s The Judge and His Hangman as the burial place of the murdered fictional character Police Lieutenant ″Ulrich Smith″ (or ″Dr. Prantl″).

Museum graveyard

A museum graveyard (Museumsgrabfeld) has been created within the Schosshalde cemetery in 1980 in order to preserve aesthetically representative gravestones of different epochs.[2] It is considered as Bern′s smallest museum[3] and hosts cultural events.[4]

Prominent burials

Existing burials

• Erwin Friedrich Baumann (1890–1980), architect and sculptor
• Friedrich Baumann (1835v1910), architect and politician
• Markus Feldmann (1897–1958), Federal Council
• Otto von Greyerz (1863–1940), linguist
• Paul Klee (1879–1940), painter
• Ernst Kreidolf (1863–1956), painter and illustrator
• Eugen Meier (1930–2002), football player
• Marcel Perincioli (1911–2005), sculptor
• Karl Rappan (1905–1996), football player
• Eduard von Steiger (1881–1962), Federal Council
• Rudolf von Tavel (1866–1934), writer

Cleared burials

• Edward John Granet (1858–1918), British military attache, Bern - reburied in Commonwealth war grave plot at St Martin's Cemetery, Vevey[5]
• Gertrud Kurz (1890–1972), humanist
• Franz Eugen Schlachter (1859–1911), Bible translator
• Adolf Wölfli (1864–1930), painter

Notes

1. "Paul Klee's Epitaph, the Meaning". 26 March 2013.
2. Official website of the museum graveyard Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
3. Eliane Oesch: Grabsteine vor dem Tod bewahrt. In: Journal B: Sagt, was Bern bewegt, March 20, 2013.
4. Urs Wüthrich: Genie und Wahnsinn im Schosshaldenfriedhof. In: Berner Zeitung, May 19, 2011.
5. "Casualty Details | CWGC".