Cemeteries in Germany
How do I determine who is interned in a cemetery in Germany? I have written to many Evangelisch-lutherische Kirchgemeinde /cemeteries hoping they have a list of people buried within. I am trying to locate my great grandmothers parents, grandparents, siblings etc. I never receive a reply back. After writing to church archives and the Stadt archive I have information on my deceased ancestors such as date of death etc but I have not been able to locate in which cemeteries they were buried. The church archive records did not indicate where the persons were interned. I was hoping by writing the cemetery itself, there would be some record of their burial. I realize my ancestors grave itself may or may not exist due to the turning over of the grave site after so many years. It would be nice to know in what cemetery they were buried and if their site is still in existence an if an approximate location in the cemetery where their plot was could be made. I am hoping to find where my greats were buried because I am planning a trip to Germany in July and would like to visit their resting place. I have tried Find a grave and similar sites and have not found anything close to what we have here in the US.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can proceed?
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There is a gravestone project: https://grabsteine.genealogy.net/
It will only give info on still existing graves, of course, i.e. where gravestones could be photographed.
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Burial practices in Germany are very different than in the US. For the most part, a burial plot is rented for a certain time period. When that time is over, the family can either rent the plot for another period of time (varies depending on the cemetery and local rules), or the plot will be "recycled" and used for another person. Except in rare instances, e.g. for a famous person, you are unlikely to find old graves.
Here's a link to a FamilySearch Wiki article on German burials - https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Germany_Funerary_Customs_and_Practices
And here's another link with more current information - https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/funerals/germany-burial-regulations.htm
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@sylviaelchinger1 and @WSeelentag Thank you both for the information. I will read all the links. I am just curious to know, do they keep burial records on who had a plot, **** the plot was, who was responsible for the rent etc?
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I am not aware of any general rule which records have to be kept. Most likely you'll have to ask each cemetary administration what they've got - and if anything might have been transferred to a city or regional archive.
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