Donatsfriedhof Freiberg, Historical cemetery in Freiberg, Germany

Donatsfriedhof is a cemetery of 63.8 hectares outside Freiberg's former town wall, beside the Jakobikirche and near the Donatsturm. Its main entrance is on Am Ostbahnhof, with another on Hornstraße. The grounds hold about 2,600 graves, including some 150 historic sandstone monuments and four surviving family vaults such as the Gerlach Grufthaus.

The cemetery belonged to the wooden Donatskirche, first mentioned in 1225 and named after Saint Donatus of Arezzo; the churchyard itself was first recorded in 1430. In 1531 Duke Henry the Pious declared it Freiberg's central burial ground, and it was walled between 1567 and 1588. After the city council ordered its partial closure in 1987, only pre-sold plots were used until reactivation was decided in 2014.

This burial ground has served generations of Freiberg residents as a place for mourning and remembrance. The preserved sandstone monuments here show how people once honored their deceased through stone carvings and inscriptions.

The cemetery is best explored on foot, with multiple entry points serving different sections of the grounds. Visitors should expect to walk considerable distances if exploring the entire site or seeking specific older monuments.

The cemetery's oldest gravestone, from 1676, shows an angel holding a cloth with an inscription. The grounds also hold the Grufthaus of the Gerlach family, built around 1700, one of only four surviving family vaults of the many that once stood here.