Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof I

Berlin


This compact 18th-century cemetery is the place of perpetual slumber for a veritable roll-call of famous Germans, including the philosophers Hegel and Fichte, the architects Schinkel and Rauch and the writers Bertolt Brecht and Heinrich Mann. A map by the entrance shows grave locations. A recent restoration of the burial chapel added an ethereal, site-specific light installation by James Turrell that can be seen on hour-long guided tours. Check times and buy tickets online.

A wander around the cemetery brings you face to face with many artistic tombstones. Karl Friedrich Schinkel, in fact, designed his own. Dramatist Heiner Müller joined the illustrious group in 1995; fans still leave cigars for him. There's also a monument to resistance fighters killed by the Nazis.


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