Künstler-Nekropole, Cemetery, sculpture garden, and park in Kassel, Germany
The Künstler-Nekropole is a cemetery, sculpture garden, and park set around the Blue Lake, a former basalt quarry in the Habichtswald forest near the Harleshausen district of Kassel. The site holds space for around 40 memorials, each designed by a different artist and placed within the woodland without disturbing the natural setting.
The idea for this site came from Harry Kramer, an artist closely linked to documenta in Kassel, in the early 1980s. He envisioned a place where artists could design their own memorials while alive, drawing on the tradition of historic park cemeteries.
A marked trail with sign 22 leads through the forest around the Blue Lake to the memorials. Walkers can start from the car park on Ahnatalstraße or take a bus to the Sonnenhang stop and follow the well-signed forest path from there.
Harry Kramer, who created the project, chose to be buried there anonymously in 1997 with no marker at all, even though he had designed the entire site for others. A painting by Blalla W. Hallmann, an artist who died before completing his memorial, is displayed nearby as a remembrance.
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