The Old Twelve Apostles Churchyard

The Old Twelve Apostles Churchyard, consecrated in 1864, is among the most important cultural-historical burial places in Berlin. It was the first cemetery of the newly founded Twelve Apostles parish and at the time lay far away from the gates of the city, on properties belonging to the military treasury. By 1882 the churchyard was already filled to capacity.

Many important visual artists are buried here, including the painters Anton von Werner (1843–1915) and Friedrich Schröder Sonnenstern (1892–1982) and the sculptors Reinhold Begas (1831–1911) and Ernst Herter (1846–1917).

Garden memorial with a future

The cemetery is also an important garden memorial. The complex with its broad linden promenades is based on a design by royal garden inspector Carl David Bouché, who worked in the Botanical Garden (now Kleist Park) at the time. It still remains unchanged in its basic structure.

The chapel was destroyed in the Second World War and was rebuilt in 1957 according to a design by the architect Georg Lichtfuss. It has impressive glass windows designed by the Berlin artist Alfred Kothe.

In recent years a burial ground called “Garden of the Little Eternity” was created as an expression of a new, modern burial culture.