New green places invite you to linger
The burial culture in Germany is changing: urn burials are much more common than burials in the ground, and this is creating more and more open spaces in cemeteries. This offers the opportunity to further develop the cemeteries into green oases. At the New Cemetery in Offenbach, newly designed places to linger, remember and relax have been growing for years. Now the final section, a meeting place in the middle of this green belt, has been completed.
"The changing funeral culture means that we can make our spaces usable for the living without violating the dignity of the cemetery as a place for the deceased and mourning," says Gabriele Schreiber, head of the municipal cemeteries under the umbrella of Stadtwerke Offenbach. She came up with the idea of creating an area for the senses between the harmoniously planted memorial garden near the mourning hall and the 40-metre-long educational plant trail (we reported).
Barefoot path and humming stone
A generously laid out barefoot path winds its way through the center: its various fields invite you to feel nature with the soles of your bare feet. "The trainee gardeners from Stadtwerke planned and designed the path with great dedication," reports Schreiber. This is followed by a traffic circle around a weeping willow, surrounded by a seven-metre-long round bench, a new insect hotel and lots of flowers.
Behind this, combined with a bird aviary, there is a wooden bookcase: interested visitors can choose a book here, and further selections are also welcome, and the bookcase was quickly well stocked. A humming stone was set up next to the reading area: If you stick your head into its hollowed-out section and hum, you experience the stone as a natural resonating body. Humming can calm the nervous system, reduce stress and even strengthen the immune system, especially in the cold season.
A retreat for everyone
Visitors can help themselves to the sweet hedges in the corners of the area when the fruit is ripe. There are also three large honeycomb-shaped planters with insect-friendly perennials, which further enlivens the diversity of flora and fauna in the cemetery.
The feedback so far has been consistently positive and the offer has been well received: "Employees spend their lunch break here, relatives come to talk and the bereavement café also uses the new open space," Gabriele Schreiber is pleased to report. "We have created a retreat for everyone here."
Cemetery administration
Friedhofsverwaltung
Mühlheimer Straße 425
63075 Offenbach
Notes on accessibility
Disabled parking spaces available
Notes on accessibility
Further information
Visitor parking lot in Ulmenstraße
Opening hours
The cemeteries are open as follows:
November through February:
Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 8.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.
March and October:
Monday-Friday: 7.00 a.m. - 6.00 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 8.00 a.m. - 6.00 p.m.
April to September:
Monday-Friday: 7.00 a.m. - 8.00 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 7.00 a.m. - 8.00 p.m.