Notable graves

The Prussian military reformer’s remains were brought from Prague in 1826. Completed in 1834, the monument combines Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s architecture with Christian Daniel Rauch’s reclining bronze lion and reliefs by Friedrich Tieck. Look beyond the lion: the sides of the base also form part of the monument’s story. Both the burial here and the monument postdate Scharnhorst’s death by many years.

Gotthilf Hagen was a hydraulic engineer. The black stele also names his wife Auguste: it is a shared family memorial, not simply a monument to a professional career. Among the more conspicuous military monuments, this grave recalls the civilians buried here during the nineteenth century. Look for both spouses’ names rather than only the better-known surname.

Aviator Marga von Etzdorf is one of the women whose stories can be explored here. Her boulder bears the words she chose, “Der Flug ist das Leben wert” — roughly, “Flight is worth life itself.” Rather than elaborate sculpture, the memorial uses a short inscription and the natural shape of the rock. Compare that approach with the lion on Scharnhorst’s monument.

Werner von Fritsch was a former commander-in-chief of the German Army. His surviving 1939 monument is a heavy stone slab shaped as a false sarcophagus.

The educator and co-founder of the German gymnastics movement died in France in 1814 but was not buried in Berlin until 1843. His black cast-iron cross with gold ornament contrasts with the surrounding stone monuments. Its lengthy inscription describes the transfer of his remains, making the long interval between death and burial here part of the memorial itself.

The Prussian minister of war is commemorated by a monument designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. A winged Victory stands beneath its green canopy, with eagles above. Instead of a solid gravestone, it resembles a small open architectural structure. Do not confuse him with Ferdinand August von Witzleben, who is also buried in this cemetery.

Winterfeldt was a general and confidant of Frederick II. His monument by Heinrich von Ledebur has a portrait medallion and military ornament within an iron enclosure. The inscription spells his name “Hans Carl von Winterfeld”. In the photograph, the hinterland wall appears behind it: Prussian commemoration and Berlin’s later division occupy the same view.

The Protestant theologian represents the cemetery’s scholarly and civilian history. His original large boulder monument was lost after 1945. A low replacement stone now marks the grave. It does not reproduce the earlier monument: it restores the name to the location while leaving the loss of the original memorial apparent.