Friedhof der Märzgefallenen, Memorial cemetery in Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany
The Cemetery of the March Fallen is a memorial cemetery in Volkspark Friedrichshain, Berlin. It holds 255 victims of the March Revolution of 1848 and 33 victims of the November Revolution of 1918. The grounds are enclosed on three sides and contain 18 grave slabs, three iron crosses, a stele, two cast-iron monuments, and a memorial stone with the names of the March Fallen.
The cemetery was established in 1848 to honor people who died during the March Revolution while fighting for social improvements and democratic rights. Later, graves of victims from the November Revolution of 1918 were added, making the site a memorial for two major German uprisings.
The cemetery's name comes from the Märzgefallenen, the 183 civilian victims of the 18 March 1848 barricade fighting buried here on 22 March 1848. At the funeral an evangelical preacher, a Catholic chaplain and the rabbi Michael Sachs spoke one after another at the church door, a joint appearance the Vossische Zeitung called a moment without example in history. The 1948 memorial stone carries the inscription "DEN TOTEN 1848-1918" and the line "DAS DENKMAL HABT IHR SELBER EUCH ERRICHTET".
The cemetery lies on the Lindenberg, the highest point of Volkspark Friedrichshain, and is reached on foot through the park; the grounds are a garden monument, so paths are kept as laid out rather than paved for vehicles. The site is a memorial, so visitors are asked to keep to the paths and respect the graves.
The cemetery was laid out on the Lindenberg, then the highest point of the unfinished Volkspark and known locally as Kanonenberg. Two windmills stood there; only one was demolished for the burial ground, and the second burned down in 1860, which is why the site ended up smaller than planned.
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