At 78 hectares, Leipzig's South Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Leipzig and is rightfully considered one of the largest and most beautiful park cemeteries in Germany. In 2016, the South Cemetery celebrated its 130th anniversary with cultural events, diverse tours, and lectures.
The complex was designed by the city's planning commissioner and prominent architect Hugo Licht (1841-1923, known as the builder of the New Town Hall from 1900 to 1905 and the Music Conservatory from 1885 to 1887) and garden director Otto Wittenberg (1834-1918), with the paths shaped like a linden leaf.
The designers thus referred to Leipzig's original Slavic name, "The place where the linden trees stand," and created a total work of art in keeping with the principles of Art Nouveau.
The focal point of the South Cemetery is the crematorium, built by Otto Wilhelm Scharenberg between 1907 and 1909. Together with two smaller chapels and the large main hall, this structure forms a complex that can be seen from afar thanks to its 63-meter-high bell tower. The eastern chapel was designed in the shape of a cross and, like the main chapel, primarily served religious funerals. The western chapel was designed as a reception hall and served secular ceremonies.
The entire complex is modeled on the Benedictine monastery of Maria Laach. The floor plans of all the funeral halls resemble a Greek cross.
The surrounding corridors and arcades connect the various sections of the neo-Romanesque building.
The chapel complex is divided into three funeral halls: the East Funeral Hall, the West Funeral Hall, and the Great Funeral Hall, as well as farewell rooms, an urn transfer room, the columbarium, which has been in use again since 2011, and the crematorium.
Rhododendrons in bloom at the South Cemetery
The individual sections of the cemetery were able to be designed generously.
Green spaces were created as ecological niches for plants and animals.
Examples of this include the two protected meadows of smooth oat grass at the western entrance of the South Cemetery and the approximately 9,000 rhododendrons, which offer visitors a diverse array of colors, especially during their blooming season in May each year.
Seffner Grave at the South Cemetery
Countless graves of important Leipzig figures are located at the South Cemetery. For example, those of the Baedecker and Ullstein publishing families and the dialect poet Lene Voigt. Other graves were added from the Old St. John's Cemetery, such as that of the poet Christian Fürchtegott Gellert. Christian Gottlob Frege and his family were also reburied from Abtnaundorf Castle to the South Cemetery.
Gravestone of a listed gravestone in the South Cemetery
Gravestones of high artistic value, such as those of Max Klinger, Carl Seffner, and Walter Arnold, are cared for by the cemetery administration.
The South Cemetery contains listed gravestones from the late 19th to the early 20th century that are worthy of preservation.
We are happy to accommodate requests for artistically valuable memorial stones by offering gravestone sponsorships.
Grave site or tree donation?
A wooden stele stands in front of a tree. Fir branches are placed around the tree, and a grave candle is placed.
Anyone walking through Leipzig's South Cemetery can see many trees along the path with a wooden stele placed in front of the tree. Sometimes small bouquets are placed in front of them, and grave candles are placed. A small brass plaque with inscription is attached to the top of the wooden stele. Since the trees are located on the cemetery grounds, many visitors assume that the deceased are resting here, and they are repeatedly asked for such a tree for a burial. These trees are donation trees. Citizens supported the city with donations to the Department of Urban Greenery and Waterways, thus enabling the city to plant additional trees. The small metal plaque attached to the wooden stele commemorates the person to whom this tree is dedicated. Such donation trees can be found not only in the South Cemetery, but throughout the city.
For several years, there have been facilities for tree burials at the South Cemetery.