Westfriedhof (Munich)


The Westfriedhof in Munich is situated in the south of the city district of Moosach. The main entrance is at Baldurstraße 28. The cemetery was laid out in 1898; the buildings, by the architect Hans Grässel, were completed in 1902. The Westfriedhof contains over 40,000 grave plots. The monuments in the principal avenue, many of them by the Munich sculptor Heinrich Waderé, are especially imposing.

Graves of notable individuals

Two graves recall the terror of the period of the Bavarian Soviet Republic. Countess Hella von Westarp, secretary of the Thule Society, was shot in the hostage murders. The other gravestone is known as the "Pals' Grave" and commemorates 22 young men, members of the Roman Catholic St. Joseph's Social Club who in May 1919 were drinking in their local and thus missed the curfew. They were apprehended by a Berlin regiment, who took them for Spartacists. The young men were unable to convince their captors otherwise, it was popularly believed because of the difficulties of mutual understanding between Bavarians and Prussians, and all were shot.

Literature