Die Ewigkeit im Schatten der Bäume - Darkdackel Cache No. 2

My second cache leads you to a beautiful but relatively unknown spot on the Aachen Waldfriedhof (cemetery).

Near-natural and partionally anonymous tree burials  beside a picturesque pond.For more and more people, this is an alternative to a conventional burial.

But first, a few facts about the Waldfriedhof:

In the 1830s  the still independent town of Burtscheid suffered from a massive cholera epidemic and many cases of intermittent fever  which  lasted for several decades. For this reason it was decided to reforest a partition of the southern Aachen forest and to transform it into a cemetery area . Therefore the Waldfriedhof was firs called Cholerafriedhof  (Cholera Cemetery).

After the Heißberg Cemetery was established in 1862 in Burtscheid , and the city of Aachen had the Westfriedhof (West Cemetery) I + II  created in 1899,  it was not further substantiated . Instead, a students' association initiated the building of  Bismrackturm* on the property,  which was inaugurated in 1907.

After the Aachen population had increased significantly between WWI and WWII , and other cemeteries gradually reached their capacity limits ,  in 1930 a regular cemetery area was set up next to the Ehrenfriedhof** (Memorial Cemetery). This today biggest part of Waldfriedhof was opened in 1933 and comprises approximately 22 hectares.

Near-natural burial :

In addition to standard single, double and number graves different types of natural burials are offered here since 2004 , which were approved by the adoption of the new Burial Act of September 1st, 2003 . This includes graves for natural burial of biodegradable urns in a dedicated tree area of the Waldfriedhof. There can be up to two urns buried in the root zone of a tree that can be marked with your name and identification with a lying , small gravestone . This grave types are maintained by the Aachen city operation. Moreover, there is also the possibility of natural anonymous burial on Aachen Waldfriedhof.

Memorial cemetery **:

In the wake of WWI space was needed to bury lots of soldiers killed in action from Germany and abroad.

Thus, the Memorial Cemetery  was consecrated on an area of 8.6 ha in 1914 upon the area of ​​the former Cholerafriedhof . Until January 1923 2455 soldiers were buried  here, whereof  the numerous unadorned stone crosses bear witness .

A few weeks after the outbreak of WWII one had to extend Waldfriedhof and create new cemeteries for the fallen ones. It was initiated on November 1st , 1939 by the city of Aachen.

Even after the war more deceased were added by reburials that had been temporarily interred elsewhere. As late as 1961, the last major reburial with 104 combat deaths took place among these numerous women, men and children who were bomb victims found their final resting place on the adjacent Waldfriedhof.  Additionally  52 concentration camp victims , mainly political refugees , homosexuals and disabled people were buried there.

For the central memorial place in the middle of the Memorial Cemetery a 6.20 m (21 ft.)high stone cross ( Memorial Cross - Waypoint EFSTK ) was established in 1957 from Belgian granite. This was originally donated to the military cemetery in Ougrée - Boncelles at Seraing (Belgium), where those German soldiers were originally buried , but afterwards they were moved to other cemeteries - and the cross came to Aachen .

Bismarck Tower *:

The Aachen Bismarck Tower is one nr. 173 of former 240 remaining Bismarck towers built worldwide,  that have been built to commemorate the founder of the German Empire , Otto von Bismarck.

He was inaugurated on July 22nd, 1907 by the then Aachen Mayor Philip Veltman . The idea to this originated by a students' association of the University of Aachen .

The Aachen Bismarck Tower was designed by architect Georg Frentzen (1854-1923), designed and built following the granting of planning permission by the company Boswau & Knauer from Berlin. The tower consists of a semicircular , about 5 m (17 ft.)  high basement , which is divided into five identical segments and two staircases is to climb . The one meter (3 ft.) high stone parapet on the crown opening is supported by a multi-part battlements fries . Above the basement rises a axially -symmetric basement of a little over eleven meters (36 ft.) high with three arched portals and an attached basalt stone, a design by Prof. Karl Kraus,s Otto von Bismarck, Helmuth von Moltke and Albrecht von Roon.  The actual tower with 9.80 meters (32 ft.) in height now is in the basement area with four square storeys, that form a stylized "B" . It  concludes with an observation deck , which is accessible via two spiral staircases . The top segment of this monument forms a 5 meter (17 ft.) high ducal crown with an attached Reichsapfel instead of a fire bowl , as it was common with most other towers of that era. At the upper end of the  tower shaft , just below this ducal crown , the Reichswappen (Imperial Coat of Arms) was attached . Though the Reichswappen at the  ducal crown  is now no longer visible today , as it was  removed as part of renovations before the year 1986 .

The Bismarck Tower had always been used for decades as a viewpoint popular by Aachen citizens and tourists. After some years of closure and past the last in-depth restoration work between 1999 and 2005 it's again accessible to the public . ***

*** NB :  Bismarck Tower is accessible (ascent) to public weekdays from 8.00 am - 4.00 pm  free of charge upon presentation of an ID( as a pledge ) in the cemetery office ( entrance Monschauer road ).

Waypoint : BMTURM

Happy hunting !  

Please be sure to reseal the cache box properly  to also  ensure this experience to the next geocacher!

Driving Directions (BUS) :

Take either  line 11, 21 , or  46  from Aachen Bushof (Bus Station) - direction Wahlheim / Schmithof School / Woodland Cemetery -  Get off at "Waldfriedhof"

Driving by car: ( Waypoint PARKING)