Friedhof Heerstraße

The Friedhof Heerstraße cemetery is located at Trakehnerallee 1 (Trakehner avenue No.1), district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin, Germany, to the east of the Olympiastadion. It covers an area of 149,650 square meters.

The cemetery was originally named and planned for the local residents of Villenkolonie Heerstraße. It was laid out between 1921 and 1924 around the Sausuhlensee (Sow's wallow lake), so called after wallows the wild boars used there. Created by landscape architect Erwin Barth as a forest cemetery, the chapel was designed by Erich Blunck.

Today's cemetery does not reflect its original design. In 1935/36 the original plans for extending the cemetery were dropped and the land was appropriated for landscaping related to the 1936 Summer Olympics; the fact that the non-denominational cemetery contained a number of Jewish graves bolstered the Nazis' need to keep the cemetery out of sight. Another problem for the Olympic organizers was that the cemetery chapel could be seen from the sports fields; accordingly the roof was lowered and other changes made to its design. The extension was only delayed and realized immediately after the war in May 1945. In 1948 the war-damaged chapel was rebuilt following the 1936 design alterations.

From the beginning this cemetery was open to all: Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even suicides. Its idyllic location on the lake attracted many prominent people whose graves are located there.

Graves of prominent people

Those graves marked by an asterisk (*) are Ehrengrab des Landes Berlin (Honoured Grave: the city of Berlin pays all fees)

Alfred Abel (1879–1937), actor and director
Conrad Ansorge (1862–1930), composer and pianist
Jakob Arjouni, (1964–2013), writer
Hermann Bamberg* (1846–1928), Berlin honorary citizen
Marcus Behmer* (1879–1958), writer, book illustrator, graphic designer and painter
Arnold Berliner* (1862–1942), physicist
Leo Blech (1871–1958), composer and conductor
Werner Bloch* (1890–1973), politician
Michael Bohnen (1887–1965), opera singer and actor
Karl Bonhoeffer* (1868–1948), neurologist, psychiatrist and physician
Alfred Braun* (1888–1978), screenwriter, actor and film director
Ferdinand Bruckner* (1891–1958), writer and theater manager
Erich Buchholz* (1891–1972), painter
Horst Buchholz (1933–2003), actor
Bernhard-Viktor Christoph-Carl "Vicco" von Bülow (1923–2011), better known as Loriot, humorist, cartoonist, film director, actor and writer
Paul Cassirer* (1871–1925), art dealer
Theodor Däubler* (1876–1934), poet
Alexander Dehms* (1904–1979), politician
Frida Leider* (1888–1975), opera singer
Robert Dinesen, (1874–1972), Danish actor and film director
Günter von Drenkmann*, president of the Court of Appeal
Bill Drews* (1870–1938), Prussian Minister of the Interior
Tilla Durieux* (1880–1971), actress
Fritz Dylong* (1894–1965), politician
Edyth Edwards* (1899–1956), actress
Leonore Ehn* (1888–1978), actress
Alexander Engel (1902–1968), actor
Erich Fiedler (1901–1981), actor
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1925–2012), singer, conductor
Max Jakob Friedländer (1867–1958), art historian
Gunter Gabriel (1942–2017), singer and composer
Vadim Glowna (1941–2012), actor
Curt Goetz* (1888–1960), actor and writer
Rolf von Goth (1906–1981), actor, writer
Uwe Gronostay (1939–2008), chorus conductor, composer
Anneliese Groscurth (1910–1996), physician, German resistance
Georg Groscurth (1904–1944), physician, German resistance
George Grosz* (1893–1959), painter
Käthe Haack (1897–1986), actress
Thea von Harbou* (1888–1954), screenwriter, novelist, film director and actress
Maximilian Harden* (1861–1927), journalist and writer
Alfred Helberger* (1871–1946), painter
Frieda Hempel (1885–1955), opera singer
Jo Herbst (1928–1980), comedian
Klaus Herm (1925–2014), actor
Hilde Hildebrand (1897–1976), actress
Paul Höffer (1895–1949), composer
Walter Höllerer (1922–2003), literature scientist
Claus Holm (1918–1996), actor
Arno Holz* (1863–1929), poet and dramatist
Hermann Jansen* (1869–1945), architect
Curt Joël (1865–1945), politician
Karl John, (1905–1977), actor
Hans Junkermann (1879–1943), actor
Margarete Klose (1899–1968), opera singer
Franz Teddy Kleindin (1914–2007), Jazz musician, composer ("Klarinettenzauber"), arranger
Georg Kolbe* (1877–1947), sculptor
Viktor de Kowa* (1904–1973), actor
August Kraus* (1868–1934), sculptor and painter
Evelyn Künneke (1921–2001), singer and actress
Eduard Künneke (1885–1953), composer
Helmut „Fiffi“ Kronsbein (1914–1991), soccer player and trainer
Helene Lange* (1848–1930), feminist and politician
Leopold Langstein* (1876–1933), child physician
Melvin J. Lasky (1920–2004), American writer, editor
Valérie von Martens (1894–1986), actress
Karlheinz Martin* (1886–1948), director of the Hebbel-Theater
Valérie von Martens (1894–1986), actress
Günter Meisner (1926–1994), actor
Hermann Minkowski* (1864–1909), mathematician and physicist
Oskar Minkowski* (1858–1931), internalist
Hans Joachim Moser (1889–1967), music scientist
Hermann Müller (1885–1947), marathon runner and race walker
Walter Neusel (1907–1964), boxer
Hildegard Ochse (1935–1997), photographer
Albert Panschow*, Stadtältester
Heinz Pehlke (1922–2002), cinematographer
Josef Pelz von Felinau, writer
Ernst Pepping (1901–1981), composer
Werner Peters (1918–1971), actor and film producer
Werner Pittschau (1902–1928), actor
Hans-Michael Rehberg (1938–2017), actor
Günter Rexrodt (1941–2004), politician
Walter Richter (1905–1985), actor
Joachim Ringelnatz* (1883–1934), writer, poet
Ulrich Roski (1944–2003), singer-songwriter
Willi Rose (1902–1978), actor
Oscar Sabo (1881–1969), actor
Hans Sahl (1902–1993), writer
Oskar Sala (1910–2002), composer
Hermann Scheer (1944–2010), politician
Marcellus Schiffer (1892–1932), lyricist
Heinrich Schnee (1871–1949), lawyer, last Governor of German East Africa
August Scholtis* (1901–19690), writer
Gustav Scholz (1930–2000), boxer, better known as Bubi Scholz
Margarete Schön (1895–1985), actress
Hannelore Schroth (1922–1987), actress
Johannes Heinrich Schultz (1894–1970), physician, inventor of autogenic training
Carl Schuhmann* (1869–1946), sportsman, many medals
Guido Seeber (1879–1940), cinematographer
Leonard Steckel* (1901–1971), actor and theatre director
Ludwig Suthaus (1906–1971), opera singer
Katharina Szelinski-Singer (1918–2010), sculptor
Michiko Tanaka (1909–1988), actress, singer
Sylke Tempel (1963–2017), author and journalist
Jakob Tiedtke (1875–1960), actor
Willy Trenk-Trebitsch, (1902–1983), actor
Dinorah Varsi (1939–2013), pianist
Walter Volle (1913–2002), rower, gold medal winner Olympia 1936
Kurt Wegner* (1898–1964), local politician
Paul Wegener* (1874–1948), actor
Grethe Weiser* (1903–1970), actress
Dorothea Wieck (1908–1986), actress
Agnes Windeck (1888–1975), actress
Klausjürgen Wussow (1929–2007), actor
Augusta von Zitzewitz (1880–1960), painter