Tour Report: Baroque Graveyard O.

We don’t always seek out the most spectacular, abandoned places. We find it just as exciting and interesting to explore the area where we happen to be. Sometimes we just drive around and see what we end up stumbling upon, and sometimes we check Google Maps to see if we can find an interesting marker where something exciting might be hiding.

It was similar with this cemetery.

The day before, we’d been on a long tour and wanted to treat ourselves to a quiet, relaxing day. By late afternoon, though, we felt like taking advantage of the nice weather and going on a short tour of the area. I checked Google Maps and found a reference to a small churchyard. Upon closer inspection, we could make out several stone graves that caught our attention.

So we set off. The drive was short; the cemetery was only a little over 10 kilometers away. Directly across the street is the small village square, where we were able to park without any trouble.

The church and the cemetery are still in use, but the last burials had already taken place several years prior to our visit in November 2020.

As we entered the small graveyard, we could already see the four old stone graves. On the way there, I had of course looked up some information about the place and discovered that these were graves from the Baroque era.

What particularly fascinated me were the depictions of skulls on the graves. This was quite common during the Baroque period. The large, richly decorated tombs suggest that the people buried here were once quite wealthy.

A few old gravestones still lean against a wall of the cemetery - this, too, is not uncommon: When relatives are no longer willing or able to pay the grave rental fee, or when there are simply no relatives left to rent a grave site for their ancestors, the grave is reused after some time. The gravestones often remain in the cemetery and are leaned against either the walls of the church or the cemetery wall.

To find out more about the history and to check out all the photos from this place, click the button below.

Tour Report: Cemetery "After Life"

During the CoViD pandemic in 2020, we left the city for our birthday week in May - as we do every year - and retreated to the “Huskyhof”.

For many years now, this has not only been a place full of good friends and great experiences, but also our “home base” for excursions in eastern Germany several times a year.

In May 2020, the trip there was difficult, at least with regard to the coronavirus regulations, because you were not allowed to leave your federal state without a special reason (e.g. for work). Well, we found a reason - namely to photograph dogs. We were given the “official assignment” to take photos of the husky pack. So we were at least formally compliant with the rules ;)

It was my wife Birthe's birthday, and after a hearty breakfast we didn't really feel like driving long distances and decided to check out a few locations nearby. Two of our “host mother” Petra's grandchildren asked if they could accompany us, so there were four of us. As our car was too full, we took Petra's van and set off.

Our first destination was an old cemetery. Although it's not abandoned in the sense of being abandoned, it hasn't been used for many decades. Even the greenery is only rudimentarily maintained to keep the paths reasonably clear. As a result, many graves have disappeared under dense greenery and in some cases can only be guessed at. Here and there the graves are still recognizable by stone edges or small metal fences. In other places, the stone nameplates defy moss and leaves.

Centrally located is a large, beautifully designed family burial ground with columns and statues grouped around a central memorial slab.

You can spend quite a lot of time in this place, as there are many small old graves to be discovered off the beaten track. Often you can't even tell if you're walking around a grave site.

We spent a considerable amount of time there before making our way to the second location.

To find out a bit more about the place and to check out all the photos, click the button below.

Flense.

Wie gesagt, der letzte Sonntagsausflug nach Flensburg zum Rum- und Zuckermarkt stellte sich in spirituosiger Hinsicht als voller Erfolg heraus, aber nicht nur die Rezeptoren für die geistreichen Genüsse wurden befriedigt, auch die seefahrts- und kulturaffinen Synapsen wurden gekitzelt.
Schon der Veranstaltungsort für den Rum- und Zuckermarkt war angemessen gewählt - das Flensburger Schifffahrtstmuseum (ich finde drei "f" immer noch sehr seltsam!).
Neben den kulinarischen Sehenswürdigkeiten gab es also auch noch allerlei seefahrtshistorisch Interessantes zu erkunden; von schiffstechnischem Bric-à-Brac, der immer noch herrlich nach Diesel und Öl roch (meine Ubootfahrernase jubilierte geradezu) bis zu alten Seekarten und Geschichten der Rumlieferungen aus der Karibik und Dänisch Westindien.

Nachdem wir uns ausgiebig in den Innenräumen des Museums umgesehen hatten, haben wir die Museumswerft in Augenschein genommen.
Diese liegt am Museumshafen, direkt gegenüber vom Schifffahrtsmuseum und beinhaltet einige tolle Schmuckstücke, unter anderem einen Baum, der in einem Boot wächst, und eine Propellermaus:

Den Schlusspunkt des Tages bildete der Besuch auf dem Alten Friedhof.
Ich weiß, das klingt jetzt vielleicht seltsam, aber dieser alte Parkfriedhof mit Gräbern aus der Zeit der Schlacht bei Idstedt und dem Deutsch-Dänischen Krieg ist einer der schönsten Orte in Flensburg.
Leider ist der oberirdische Teil der großen Gruft offenbar für Reparaturarbeiten abgebaut worden, aber der Eingang mit den goldenen Buchstaben ist immer noch da:

Meine Mutter erzählte uns, dass man früher direkt in die Gruft hineinsehen und die Särge betrachten konnte, dass die Wand mit den Plaketten erst später eingezogen wurde. Schade.
Auch sonst hat der Friedhof wirklich einige schöne Ecken zu bieten; die wirklich alten Grabsteine, die teilweise schon von der Natur zurückgefordert werden, erzeugen eine tolle Atmosphäre.