Cemeteries

Chronology of the Jena North Cemetery

• 1884 First municipal cemetery (previously the Johannisfriedhof at the Friedenskirche)
• 1886 Eight square burial plots for row graves, bordered by outer graves, and the Urn Grove (UH) I and II were created. The designer was garden inspector Carl Ludwig Heinrich Maurer. 300 linden trees were planted along the main paths, and over 100 chestnut trees were planted starting from Hufelandweg.
• 1887 Construction of a mortuary and cemetery chapel (ceremony hall) in the Neoclassical style—a clinker brick building made of local limestone and Pirna sandstone (master builder: Theodor Hartmann; architect: Carl Timmler)
• 1889 Cemetery and burial regulations established for the first municipal cemetery
• 1889 First burial; closure of the Johannis Cemetery (burials continued in existing graves until 1950)
• 1894 Founding of the “Association for Cremation” (Chairman: Pathologist Prof. Leubuscher, supported by zoologist and natural philosopher Ernst Haeckel)
• 1897 Construction of the crematorium (the fifth in Germany)
• 1898 First cremation, first urn burial, and second cremation (William Haak, Urn Grove I)
• 1906 The city of Jena takes over the crematorium
• 1909 Connection of the crematorium to the ceremonial hall and construction of a scattering area and a second cremation furnace
• 1910 Expansion of the cemetery begins, based on plans by city gardener Jakob Wychram, to include today’s burial sections 9–14 and Urnenhain II.
• 1914–1918 Honorary graves for 276 soldiers who died in Jena’s military hospitals during World War I in Section 11
• 1918 Expansion of the cemetery to include burial sections 17–20, based on designs by cemetery inspector Ludwig Gierig
• 1925 New sections 21–24 laid out by relief workers
• 1921–1926 Design of Urnenhain III based on plans by Cemetery Superintendent Gustav Diekmann
• 1931–1939 Design of Urn Grove IV
• 1943–1945 Burial of those who died in World War II in sections 7b, 16, and 27
• 1950 Establishment of the Municipal Economic Enterprise (KWU)
• 1958 Construction of the bridge over the Munketal
• 1965 Merger of the VEG City Gardening, Cemetery Supply and Service Operations, and Parks and Green Spaces into VEB (K) Landscape Design
• 1966 First communal urn burial site in Urnenhain IV
• 1972 Incorporation of the Municipal Cemeteries into VEB (K) Stadtwirtschaft
• 1976 Construction of a 30-meter-high industrial chimney for the crematorium
• 1987 Renovation of the crematorium and ceremonial hall
• 1991 Establishment of the Parks and Cemeteries Department; construction of a new staff building for the gardeners; reconstruction of the ceremonial halls at the outlying cemeteries
• 1991/1992 Redesign of Urnenhain IIIb
• 1994 Construction of the communal urn burial sites in Urn Grove IV, Field 10; reconstruction of the war graves with the assistance of Bundeswehr soldiers
• 1995 Complete renovation of the administration building
• 1996 First regulations governing graves of honor
• 1997 Reconstruction of Field 4
• 1998 Installation of a filtration system in the crematorium
• 1999 Expansion with the communal urn burial area in Field 17
• 2000 Crematorium forecourt; expansion with Row Grave Section 19
• 2001 Administration building forecourt
• 2002 Expansion of Section 2 with choice burial plots for in-ground interment
• 2003 Retaining wall for the parking lot, Section 18
• 2003 Integration into municipal services in July
• 2004 Lindenbrunnenplätze – gardener-maintained urn burial plots at the North Cemetery featuring a metal artwork by Fleischmann (Weimar) for unmarked urn graves in the urn grove and a limestone sculpture by Neuhäuser (Gröben)
• 2005 Forecourt of the ceremonial hall
• 2011 Urn niches with 63 spaces in Section 7a
• 2014 Tree burial plots in Section 12 (8 urn burial plots around an ornamental apple tree, 18 young trees) and natural burial in UHIV Section 11
• 2015 Construction of a new crematorium with cremation facilities on the grounds of the North Cemetery
• 2016 Expansion of the columbarium in Section 7a
• 2017 Muslim burials in Section 30
• 2018 Expansion of the columbarium in Section 7a
• 2019 Communal urn burial site with names and perennial plantings in Section 6 C
• 2019 Expansion of the natural burial area by 180 trees
• 2019 Construction of two columbarium walls with 120 niches in UHIV/12
• 2022 Expansion of the urn niches in UHIV/12 by 180 niches
• 2022 Newly established maintained graves in Section 4