Invalidenfriedhof is one of Berlin's oldest and most historically interesting cemeteries. It was established in 1748 in connection with the Prussian Invalidenhaus, which Frederick II had built for war veterans. For more than 275 years, the cemetery has been associated with the military history of Prussia and Germany, but also with Berlin as a city. Generals, officers, politicians, civil servants, scientists and civilians are buried here.
The cemetery is particularly known for the tomb of the Prussian general and army reformer Gerhard von Scharnhorst, but also for a number of graves and memorials connected with the First World War, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era, the Second World War and the Cold War. After 1961, part of the cemetery was incorporated into the GDR's border system, and the Berlin Wall came to run directly through the area.
General Gerhard von Scharnhorst 1755-1813.
Table of Contents
1. History of the cemetery
Invalidenfriedhof is historically connected with Invalidenhaus, which was established on the orders of Frederick II of Prussia. Invalidenhaus was opened in 1748 and was intended to provide support and a home for war invalids. The cemetery was established for the Invalidenhausgemeinde, and the first burials took place as early as 1748.
The cemetery was originally intended for the residents of Invalidenhaus and their congregation. Over time, the group of people buried here was expanded, and during the 19th century Invalidenfriedhof became an important burial place for senior Prussian officers. From the middle of the 19th century, civil servants, theologians, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists and other civilians connected with Berlin were also buried here.
In 1824, a special burial section was laid out for the so-called "Nobilitäten der Armee", corresponding to the later Section C. The cemetery thus increasingly became an important memorial site for the Prussian military elite.
Following the Prussian reforms and the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon, the cemetery acquired a special significance as a memorial site for Prussian military history. Several of the most prominent officers of the period were given their final resting place here, and large artistic tomb monuments were erected.
During the 19th century, the cemetery was expanded several times. New burial sections were established, and the area grew towards the Berlin-Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal. Invalidenfriedhof gradually became an important burial place for the Prussian and later German military elite.
2. Gerhard von Scharnhorst
The most famous tomb monument at Invalidenfriedhof is the tomb of Gerhard David von Scharnhorst. He was a Prussian general and one of the most important military reformers during the Prussian reforms and the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon.
Scharnhorst died in 1813 after being wounded during the fighting against Napoleon's forces. His remains were later transferred to Berlin, where the tomb monument was erected according to designs by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The monument was completed in 1834 and is one of the cemetery's most important monuments of art and cultural history.
Together with, among others, August Neidhardt von Gneisenau, Scharnhorst worked to modernise the Prussian army following the defeat by Napoleon. His importance therefore extends far beyond his own military career, and his tomb monument was also one of the reasons why this particular part of Invalidenfriedhof was preserved during the GDR period.
Guards of honour at Reinhard Heydrich's monument in Prague - 1942.
3. Invalidenfriedhof during the Nazi era
During the Nazi regime, Invalidenfriedhof was also used for the burials of prominent figures within the German military and state apparatus. It is therefore not surprising that several people connected with the Nazi regime are buried here. It is important, however, to emphasise that the cemetery was not created by the Nazis, and that the vast majority of its history predates 1933.
After the First World War, and particularly following the demilitarisation of Invalidenhaus in 1920, the character of the cemetery changed. Many older graves were gradually removed, and the number of preserved burial sites fell considerably. In 1925, there were around 6,000 registered graves, while by 1941 the number had been reduced to approximately half.
At the same time, the cemetery's older Prussian military history was used in different ways by political forces. During the Nazi era, several prominent representatives of the regime were buried here, including Reinhard Heydrich and Fritz Todt. At the same time, there are also graves belonging to people who resisted Nazism.
4. Reinhard Heydrich
One of the most controversial burials at Invalidenfriedhof was that of Reinhard Heydrich. Following the assassination attempt in Prague in May 1942, Heydrich died of his injuries on 4 June 1942. He was head of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) and one of the central figures in the Nazi terror apparatus.
Heydrich played a central role in coordinating the Nazis' persecution and mass murder. Among other things, he was responsible for convening the Wannsee Conference on 20 January 1942, where representatives of various German authorities coordinated cooperation concerning Nazi policy towards Europe's Jews. The Holocaust was already underway at this time, but the conference became an important part of the administrative coordination of the mass murder.
Heydrich was buried at Invalidenfriedhof in 1942. After the war, his grave was made unrecognisable, and the original wooden cross was removed. It has not been documented whether the removal took place on direct orders from the authorities or the Allies. Today, the burial site is not marked by a Nazi monument.
The small concrete foundation slightly to the left in the picture is what remains of Reinhard Heydrich's grave monument.
After 1945, a number of Nazi and militaristic symbols and monuments were removed from German cemeteries. At Invalidenfriedhof, Heydrich's grave was not given a new monument, and the site today remains without an actual gravestone.
In December 2019, an attempt was made to exhume Heydrich's former grave. Unknown persons opened the grave, but according to police information, nothing was removed. The incident shows that the site can still arouse strong emotions and interest because of Heydrich's central role in the Nazis' crimes.
Reinhard Heydrich's former burial site - 2019.
It is important to distinguish between historical documentation and glorification. Invalidenfriedhof is a place where Germany's history, including its darkest chapters, can be studied without the people buried here thereby being honoured.
5. Other notable graves
Many famous German officers are buried here, as can also be seen from several of the grave monuments.
Among the military figures associated with Invalidenfriedhof was General Werner von Fritsch, who was Commander-in-Chief of the German Army from 1934 to 1938. He was killed at the beginning of the Second World War during the fighting in Poland in 1939.
Another famous person associated with the cemetery is the renowned German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, known as the "Red Baron". Richthofen was buried at Invalidenfriedhof in 1925, but his remains were moved in 1975 to the family grave at Südfriedhof in Wiesbaden because his grave was threatened by the expansion of the GDR's border system. Today, there is a memorial to him at Invalidenfriedhof, and the historic gravestone was later returned to the cemetery.
Invalidenfriedhof also contains the memory of people who cannot simply be reduced to military history. Among them is the aviator Marga von Etzdorf, who is buried here. Her gravestone is designed as a large natural stone and bears her personal motto about flying.
As the inscription shows, visitors are asked to respect the dead.
Not everyone buried at Invalidenfriedhof was a Nazi or a military figure. Many graves date from before the Nazis came to power in 1933, and throughout its history the cemetery was also used by civilians. It is therefore misleading to regard the entire cemetery as a monument to German militarism or Nazism.
There are also graves belonging to people who stood in opposition to the Nazi regime. Among them was Colonel Wilhelm Staehle, who was involved in the German resistance movement and was executed in 1945. Invalidenfriedhof therefore tells not only the story of the German military and its leaders, but also of people who opposed Nazism.
6. The Second World War
The Second World War left clear traces on the cemetery. Berlin was subjected to extensive Allied air raids from 1940 until the end of the war, and parts of the cemetery were damaged. During the final phase of the war, the area was also affected by the fighting for Berlin.
At the end of the war, numerous war victims were buried in mass graves at the cemetery. A memorial plaque on the site commemorates civilians from Berlin who lost their lives during the air raids and were buried in mass graves.
Memorial plaque for civilians who lost their lives during the air raids of 1940-45 and were buried in mass graves.
After the war, the cemetery was gradually used less. New burials were closed in 1951, and Invalidenfriedhof subsequently developed into a historic cemetery and memorial site. However, the political development of Berlin was to have an even greater impact on the cemetery in the following years.
See also:
Berlin at War,
Berliner Unterwelten and
Plötzensee Memorial.
7. The Berlin Wall and the destruction
After the Second World War, Berlin was divided into four occupation sectors. The Soviet sector comprised the eastern part of the city, while the American, British and French sectors made up West Berlin. The sector boundary followed, among other things, the Berlin-Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal, which lies immediately beside Invalidenfriedhof. The boundary ran through the middle of the canal.
When the Berlin Wall was erected on 13 August 1961, the cemetery's location changed dramatically. It now lay directly beside the new border between East and West Berlin, and the GDR border authorities gradually began transforming parts of the cemetery into a militarily secured border area.
Large parts of the cemetery's historic burial areas were destroyed. In particular, Sections E, F and G were incorporated into the border zone. During the expansion of the border system, grave monuments were removed, and trees and other vegetation were cleared. The years 1973 and 1975 were particularly decisive for the destruction.
The cemetery's old wall along the canal was simultaneously incorporated into the border system. The wall had originally been built in 1902 as a cemetery wall along the canal. It was later reinforced with a fence and became part of the GDR border system.
The older tomb monuments of people from the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon helped prevent the entire cemetery from being removed. Scharnhorst's tomb monument and other graves of people who were also respected in the GDR therefore contributed to the survival of parts of the historic cemetery.
The border system meant that many graves disappeared without a trace. Others were preserved because they lay outside the area that was cleared. Today, one can therefore see a strange contrast between the old grave monuments and the open grass areas that reveal where the border installations once stood.
See also:
The Berlin Wall,
Bernauer Straße and
Bornholmer Straße.
8. After the fall of the Berlin Wall
After the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 and German reunification in 1990, the history of the cemetery was rediscovered. The surviving grave monuments, cemetery wall and remains of the border installations were gradually secured.
The preserved parts of the former border area were also regarded as an important part of the site's history. Around 180 metres of parts of the former rear security line and a longer section of the former patrol road have been preserved. These remains have been under monument protection since 1990.
In 2003, the preserved concrete segments were restored by the Landesdenkmalamt Berlin. During the restoration, the characteristic paintwork with long white sections in grey frames was also recreated.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, extensive restoration work has been carried out at Invalidenfriedhof. Grave monuments, paths and parts of the cemetery wall have been restored, while selected historic graves have been reconstructed. At the same time, the decision was made to preserve traces of the destruction so that the cemetery would not appear as though its history had remained uninterrupted.
9. Invalidenfriedhof today
Today, Invalidenfriedhof is both a cemetery, a historic monument and a memorial site. The area appears as a green and peaceful place in the middle of Berlin, but beneath the surface are traces of almost three centuries of German history.
Today, the cemetery is only part of the original site. Despite the great losses, the preserved and restored grave monuments help give the place its distinctive character. They stand in a landscape where grass-covered areas and a few old trees clearly show how much the area was changed by the GDR border system.
The preserved parts of the former border area are today part of the story of the Berlin Wall. The former patrol road forms part of the historical story of the border installations, and remains of the wall and other elements from the GDR period can still be seen on the site.
The cemetery also contains a bell from the former Gnadenkirche, which was destroyed during and after the Second World War and later demolished. The bell has been preserved at Invalidenfriedhof as another example of how historic remains from the destroyed Berlin have been collected and preserved.
Invalidenfriedhof is also a protected historic garden site. Restoration has therefore not only involved preserving individual grave monuments, but also recreating parts of the historic cemetery structure. At the same time, the remains of the Berlin Wall border installations have been incorporated into the overall site.
10. Historical connections
Invalidenfriedhof should be viewed in connection with other historic sites in central Berlin. Not far away are Invalidenstraße, the Berlin-Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal and a number of places that tell the story of Prussian military history, the Second World War and the subsequent division of the city.
The cemetery's history is also connected with the resistance against Hitler. Members of the German resistance movement are buried here, while other prominent figures from the Nazi regime are also among those buried at the cemetery. In this context,
Bendlerblock and
Plötzensee Memorial
are relevant pages to visit together with Invalidenfriedhof.
The cemetery's location also makes it interesting in relation to the Berlin Wall. Here, an existing historic cemetery was directly incorporated into the GDR border system. In this way, Invalidenfriedhof together with
the Berlin Wall,
Bernauer Straße and
Bornholmer Straße
can provide a broader picture of how the Wall physically changed Berlin.
For the history of the Second World War and the final years of the Nazi state, the cemetery can also be viewed in connection with
the Führerbunker,
Karlshorst and
Berlin at War.
Invalidenfriedhof is therefore not merely a cemetery with famous graves. It is a historic landscape where Prussian military history, the German Empire, the First World War, the Weimar Republic, Nazism, the Second World War, the GDR and the Berlin Wall have all left their mark.
That is precisely what makes the cemetery interesting. Scharnhorst's monument tells the story of Prussian Germany, Heydrich's former burial site tells the story of the crimes of Nazism, the war graves tell the story of the Second World War, and the preserved parts of the border installations tell the story of the divided city. Together, they tell the story of a Germany that underwent enormous political and social changes over almost three centuries.
11. Other relevant pages:
12. Address, opening hours and transport
Address:
Scharnhorststraße 33
10115 Berlin, Germany
Opening hours:
16 March - 30 September: daily 07:00-21:30
1 October - 15 March: daily 07:00-18:30
Transport:
Invalidenfriedhof is located in Berlin-Mitte and can be reached by public transport. Nearby stops include Habersaathstraße, Bundeswehrkrankenhaus and U Schwartzkopffstraße.
Link:
Berlin.de - Invalidenfriedhof
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