Hauptfriedhof Mainz

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, 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, politicians 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]
• Eduard Duller (1809–1853), poet, writer, preacher
• Jockel Fuchs (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 (1801–1866), sekt producer (Henkell & Co.)^[3]
• Karl Holzamer (1906–2007), philosoph, founding Intendant of ZDF^[3]
• Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970), historian
• Eduard Kreyßig (1830–1897), building master for the city^[8]
• Christian Adalbert Kupferberg (1824–1876), merchant, founder of Kupferberg-Sektkellerei^[3]
• Joseph Laské (1816–1865), building master for cathedral and city^[8]
• Adam Franz Lennig (1803–1866), theologian at the Main Cathedral, Cathedral dean from 1852
• Ludwig Lindenschmit der Ältere (1809–1893), bedeutender Prähistoriker. Gründer des heutigen Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums (RGZM)
• Karl von Loehr (1875–1958), deutscher Architekt-->
• Franz Konrad Macké (1756–1844), Mainz Maire 1793 and 1800–14, mayor 1831–34^[8]
• Franz Schott (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 (1811–1865), co-founder of Mainzer Carneval-Verein, first Branddirektor^[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]

• 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: 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.