Invalids' Cemetery, Military cemetery in Mitte, Germany
The Invalids' Cemetery covers 2.54 hectares between Scharnhorststrasse and the Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal, north of the Federal Ministry of Economics. About 230 graves remain, among them Gerhard von Scharnhorst's tomb, designed by Schinkel with a sleeping lion cast from captured cannon by Rauch. A black wrought-iron fence on a low masonry base with pointed finials runs along the dry grass, next to a red brick building with white stone trim.
A Prussian king established this burial ground in 1748 for war veterans who lived in a nearby home for invalids. In the 20th century, a major political event altered Berlin's boundaries and damaged a significant portion of the cemetery.
The cemetery's name comes from the Invalidenhaus, the veterans' home opened nearby in 1748, whose residents and staff were buried here. Among the graves is that of Elisabeth von Kottulinsky, a girl who died in 1774 aged seven; her sandstone sarcophagus shows lilies, roses, the Eye of God and an hourglass. Six late-baroque sarcophagi from 1774–1790 were rediscovered in 1998 during path work.
The grounds lie between Scharnhorststraße and the Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal, north of the Federal Ministry of Economics. The cemetery is a protected garden monument, so stay on the paths; the surviving graves number about 230 on 2.54 hectares. A memorial to Berliners killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall stands on the site.
The grounds lost about one-third of their area during the 1960s when a wall cut through the cemetery. This loss remains visible in the layout today and serves as a physical reminder of the city's divided past.
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