Taking death and grief out of the taboo zone

Ms. Schreiber, you have been managing the municipal cemeteries in Offenbach for almost 18 years. What have been your most important projects so far?
It all started with the restoration of Krumm's Mausoleum in the Old Cemetery. A colleague had told me in 2007 that the State Monument Preservation Office supports such projects financially. We put a lot of work into this art-historical gem and were rewarded with the Hessian Monument Protection Prize in 2012. Shortly afterwards, we started with the Memoriam Gardens - first on a very small scale, and then, due to growing demand, by 2019 we had created the large facility at the New Cemetery, the 100th of its kind in Germany. The cared-for graves relieve the burden on the bereaved, and the lovingly tended grounds invite people to linger. Since then, my aim has been to create more and more meeting places in the cemeteries and to emphasize their importance as a green oasis.

How did you come up with these new approaches?
To put it bluntly: the cemetery in its traditional form is dying out. As the number of urn burials has been increasing for years, many areas are no longer used for conventional burials. However, as green lungs in large cities, the grounds are immensely important - for us humans as well as for the local flora and fauna. I also want to take the subject of death and mourning out of the taboo zone. That is why we are continuing to develop our cemeteries as places of retreat and encounter. This includes the new nature trail as well as our guided tours.

How do people react to this?
We get a lot of positive feedback. Only one Offenbach resident found the beach chair in the Memoriam Garden out of place. The tours are always well attended: In September, despite the pouring rain, around 35 people came to the Old Cemetery for the Open Monument Day to get to know Krumm's Mausoleum, among other things. There are also entire workforces who use their lunch break to take a walk through the cemetery.

What are your next plans?
We hope to add a sensory trail to the newly opened nature trail by the spring, with a humming stone and aviary, snack hedges and a barefoot trail. My last big project before I retire will be the renovation of the mourning hall. Apart from that, I am committed to the Jewish section of the Old Cemetery from the beginning to the end of my term of office. Every year, we apply for new funding from the regional council to gradually restore the graves to a stable condition. In this way, we can also save this historic area from decay.