Jacobsfriedhof


The Jacobsfriedhof, also known as the Jakobskirchhof, is the oldest extant burial ground in Weimar, Thuringia, Germany, on land round the Jakobskirche. The first burials took place here as early as the 12th century. The burial ground is located in the Jacobsvorstadt, which in the Middle Ages provided accommodation outside the city walls for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela.
From 1530 to 1818 it was the only burial ground in Weimar. After 1818, when the "Neue Friedhof vor dem Frauentore" was opened, now known as the Historical Cemetery, Weimar, many of the graves in the Jacobsfriedhof were levelled. From 1840 no more burials took place here, and the burial ground fell slowly into disrepair. Later the Weimar municipal authorities took it over and converted the burial ground into gardens. The Jacobsfriedhof today is part of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar.

The Kassengewölbe

On the south-eastern edge of the Jacobfriedhof stands the mausoleum known as the Kassengewölbe, originally built in 1715 by a finance official as a private place of burial for himself and his family. In 1742 it became the property of the finance ministry or state exchequer, in German the Landeskasse, whence its present name Kassengewölbe: "exchequer vault". Since then it has principally served for the burials of people of high rank without the financial means for burials appropriate to their status. Such burials took place here from 1755 to 5 March 1823, including those of Luise von Göchhausen and the parents of Charlotte von Stein.
The present Baroque pavilion, formerly with a wrought-iron gate, that stands over the Kassengewölbe, is a reconstruction of 1913, as the original was levelled, with much of the burial ground, in 1854.

The Schiller Vault

Because of his title of Hofrat and his elevation into the aristocracy in 1802, Friedrich von Schiller, who died on 9 May 1805, was among those whose remains were buried in the Kassengewölbe. The mausoleum is thus often referred to as the "Schiller Vault". After 1826 the Bürgermeister of Weimar, Carl Leberecht Schwabe, had had Schiller's remains retrieved from the Kassengewölbe. The exhumed bones believed to be the poet's were transferred in 1827 to an oak coffin in the newly built Fürstengruft in the Historical Burial Ground. In 2008 a DNA analysis, which attracted much attention, showed that the bones in the coffin could not have been those of Schiller, and since then the coffin, next to that of Goethe, has stood empty. It is generally presumed that Schiller's real remains were lost when the Kassengewölbe and the burial ground were levelled, although there are many other theories.

Notable graves

NameDatesNoted asMonument
Lucas Cranach the Elder1472–1553Court painterPainters' Vault, inscription on south church wall
Georg Neumark1621–1681Poet and composer of hymns
Johann Franz August Zimmermanndied 1774Footman; died during rescue operations in the castle fire of 1774Column in front of the Kassengewölbe
Johann Martin Mieding1725–1782Court cabinet maker and stage set makerMemorial in the south-eastern part of the burial ground
Johann Karl August Musäus1735–1787Author, literary critic, philologist and collector of fairy talesMonument with portrait and urn on the south church wall
Johann Joachim Christoph Bode1730–1793Translator, journalist, publisher, music teacher, Freemason, IlluminatusGrave stone on the south church wall
Christiane Becker-Neumann1778–1797Actress, pupil of GoetheGrave in the south-eastern part of the burial ground
Martin Gottlieb Klauer1742–1801Court sculptor and art teacher at the Fürstliche freie Zeichenschule WeimarUrn on column in the north-eastern part of the burial ground
Johann Heinrich LöberCourt painterPainters' Vault, gravestone on the south church wall
Georg Melchior Kraus1737–1806Painter, engraver, friend of Goethe, director of the Fürstliche freie ZeichenschulePainters' Vault, gravestone on the south church wall
Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von Schmettau1742–1806Lieutenant-General, topographer, cartographer and military authorTriangular stela with feather-crested helmet
Carl Ludwig Fernow1763–1808Art theorist and librarianMemorial tablet on the north wall of the church
Maria Karoline Herder, née Flachsland1750–1809Wife of Johann Gottfried Herder Grave formerly next to the east gate
Christian von Goethe, née Vulpius1765–1816Wife of Johann Wolfgang von GoetheInscription with farewell verses by Goethe
Christian Gottlob von Voigt1743–1819Poet, President of the State Ministry, ministerial colleague of GoetheSandstone sarcophagus at the burial ground's northern boundary
Ferdinand Jagemann1780–1820Painter, Professor at the Fürstliche freie ZeichenschuleMemorial tablet on the south wall of the church
Christoph Wilhelm Günther1755–1826Theologian, author of children's stories, court and garrison preacher, Oberkonsistorialrat in Weimar; in 1806 married J.W. von Goethe and Christiane Vulpius in the JakobskircheMemorial tablet on the north wall of the church