Cmentarz Centralny w Szczecinie (Szczecin Main Cemetery) the biggest cemetery in Poland
More than 300,000 graves on more than 160 hectares, countless paths, monuments, gravestones and places of silence await you when you visit the Szczecin Main Cemetery.
We were drawn to the largest cemetery in Poland and during a long walk we didn’t even come close to discovering the entire site, it’s so large and vast.
Szczecin Main Cemetery
The main cemetery in Szczecin was built in 1901 on the model of the Ohlsdorf cemetery in Hamburg, and burials still take place here today. Visually already recognizable on the plan of the cemetery, the grounds are divided into an older and a newer area.
The older area with its chapels and entrance gate was designed by an architect from Szczecin (Wilhelm Meyer-Schwartau). The landscape architect Georg Hannig was responsible for the horticultural design. A 77-meter-long entrance avenue lined with plane trees leads from the main gate to the chapel. A total of 11 avenues lead into the grounds, giving the impression of being rather in a park. On winding paths, which adapt to the course of the landscape, one passes the individual graves.
The newer part of the cemetery was built in 1930. On a former military area, which is crossed by two streams, paths have been laid out. These mostly run parallel to the water. If you are looking for graves of artists and politicians, you will certainly find them here.
Of monumental monuments and devious paths
In total the cemetery has 13 entrances. We probably entered the site through the least interesting entrance (number 13 on the plan). Via a forest path, where the noise of the adjacent main road could no longer be heard, we entered the old part of the cemetery. Before we had even seen a grave, we were standing in front of an impressive large monument. Who is being honored for what here, we could not tell, but to come across a monumental and such a large memorial in the middle of a forest section, even if it is a forest in a cemetery, is quite amazing.
Continuing through the forest we finally reached the first grave fields, which are located in small clearings. The tombstones and gravestones all seemed quite new and a look at the dates showed quite quickly that there were only graves from the time after the Second World War to find
The forest thinned out and we came to paths lined on the sides by larger more open areas. Finally we caught sight of the chapel of the cemetery. The main chapel of the SSN cemetery was damaged by fire in 1981 and then demolished. Then 13 years later they had finished the new chapel in the old style. A really impressive building.
Directly in front of the chapel, separated only by a path and a small meadow, is a large basin, where normally a fountain can be seen. During our visit, however, no water was bubbling here and the basin was drained.
In the visual axis behind the fountain there was a monument called Pomnik Braterstwa Broni (Monument to the Brothers in Arms), which looked huge even from a distance. This was designed by Sławomir Lewiński in 1967 and placed on a small hill. The monument is supposed to represent a winged hussar.
We were drawn around the main chapel to the old area of the cemetery. Somewhat surprised we discovered first a (drained) basin, around which some honorary graves were arranged. On an information board we could read that these were Szczecin personalities. If relatives wanted to be buried there and also the politics agreed to this place (one had to be a well-known personality), then there was the additional requirement not to show any religious features at the grave site.
After that we finally reached the really old area of the cemetery. Here are beautiful old gravestones on partly naturally growing meadows between bushes and under old trees. Here, if you keep quiet, you can spot foxes, rabbits, hedgehogs, wild ducks and red squirrels. Numerous insects buzz around and you can hear the birds chirping. Over the years, a habitat has been created here next to the graves, which is a peaceful oasis for people and animals. There is even an established nature trail on the subject of wildlife in the cemetery.
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