Ohlsdorf Cemetery

Ohlsdorf Cemetery in the quarter Ohlsdorf of the city of Hamburg, Germany, is the biggest rural cemetery in the world and the fourth-largest cemetery in the world. Most of the people buried at the cemetery are civilians, but there is also a large number of victims of war from various nations.History and descriptionIn 1877 the Ohlsdorf Cemetery was established as a non-denominational and multi-regional burial site outside of Hamburg.The cemetery has an area of 391ha with 12 chapels, over 1.5 million burials in more than 280,000 burial sites and streets with a length of 17km. There are 4 entrances for vehicles and public transport is provided with 25 bus stops of two bus lines of the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund. The cemetery is not only used as a burial ground, but also as a recreational area and tourist attraction. With its impressive mausoleums, rhododendron bushes, its ponds and birds, sculptures and funerary museum, about two million people from all over the world visit the cemetery every year.About 40% of all burials in Hamburg take place here in Ohlsdorf Cemetery; in 2002 there were 1600 interments and 4300 urn burials. 230 gardeners take care of graves and all facilities.Hamburg Commonwealth War Graves Commission CemeteryOne of four permanent Commonwealth cemeteries in Germany, the Hamburg Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery is located near chapel 12 (Kapelle 12) of the Ohlsdorf Cemetery.During World War I over 400 Allied prisoners-of-war who died in German captivity were buried here in, as well as sailors whose bodies had been washed ashore the Frisian Islands. In 1923 the remains of British Commonwealth servicemen from 120 burial grounds in north-western Germany were brought to Hamburg. Further dead Commonwealth soldiers of World War II and of the post war period were buried here too.