Cemeteries of Aachen

The Ostfriedhof opened in 1803 on the initiative of the French municipal government and is the oldest cemetery in Aachen still in use. Because of the clay soil, only urn burials have been allowed there since 1989. The neo-Gothic service building of 1898 was designed by the city architect Joseph Laurent, and the chapel is a copy of the demolished Quirinus chapel at Gut Melaten. Those buried here include several mayors, the gingerbread maker Henry Joseph Napoléon Lambertz and the railway entrepreneurs Richard and Georg Talbot.

The Westfriedhof was laid out in 1889 and 1890 on Vaalser Straße in two denominational halves: Westfriedhof I for Protestants and Westfriedhof II for Catholics. Together they cover almost 28 hectares. The highlight is the Campo Santo, a neo-Gothic crypt hall built between 1899 and 1905 to plans by Joseph Laurent. Four wings containing 38 crypts surround a central tower 24 metres high, and the interior is decorated in Art Nouveau style. The cathedral architect Joseph Buchkremer and the actor Hannes Messemer are among those buried at the Westfriedhof.

The small Heißberg cemetery has been in use since 1862 and covers just under two hectares. The grounds and their graves are listed. Visiting all three in turn shows how building styles and gravestones changed between the Napoleonic era and the German Empire.