Living cultural heritage

What people do in the cemetery has been declared intangible cultural heritage: they mourn their relatives or friends and remember them. They find support in rituals that help them to come to terms with the incomprehensibility of death. They tend the graves, celebrate memorial days and develop new forms of burial. The New Cemetery in Offenbach - like all other cemeteries - forms the cultural space for this: "powerful, lively and identity-forming", as the official flyer puts it.

This also includes the gravestones through the ages, which tell a lot about the history of the land and the community: With their diverse range of figures, reliefs or steles, the cemeteries can be described as Germany's largest sculpture park. They are also among the most important green spaces in a city, and their abundance of plants makes a significant contribution to climate, nature and species protection. In these oases, people can take time out to find peace and quiet or philosophize about the core questions of our existence. Here, people of all ages and religions come together in life and in death and overcome many a divisive boundary. This is why Christians, Muslims and Jews have jointly supported the nomination of cemetery culture as intangible heritage.

Germany's intangible cultural heritage also includes carol singing, beer brewing and choral music. More information on the topic: www.kulturerbe-friedhof.de (opens in a new tab)