At noon several times a week, 7-8 of the Sisters meet to go walking for exercise. I always learn a lot from our conversations! Sometimes the Sisters use this time for Visiting Teaching each other.
Fortunately, a very large (no, a gigantic) cemetery is nearby, and, it is like being in a beautiful park. We've seen red squirrels there.
Occasionally I have the feeling that any minute we'll be seeing Little Red Riding Hood skipping along!
There is a Hindenburg Memorial, a section for those killed in WWI, and another for those killed in WWII.
Many famous people are buried there which I'm sure we'll learn about when we have the tour.
One of these famous individuals, Dr. Alois Alzheimer, psychiatrist and neuropathologist, is buried next to his wife, Cecilie, right here in the Frankfurt Cemetery. He died in 1915 at the age of 51. His work on brain pathology was largely done in a hospital in Frankfurt. (This would probably get a warning tag if he weren't so famous!)
The man who invented the telephone is buried in the Friedrichsdorf cemetery, and, (rip up all of the history books), it wasn't Alexander Graham Bell! I Googled it and learned a lot! An Italian, Antonio Meucci made the original discovery of the telephone in Cuba in the 1830s. He came to Staten Island, NY 16 yrs before Bell claimed to have invented the telephone, to follow up on his discovery. He demonstrated the teletrofono in New York but couldn't afford the $250 patent fee. Bell became interested in it and started sharing lab space with Meucci. With full access to the research materials, he then claimed the invention for himself. Meucci protested but the court ruled in favor of Bell who was recently posthumously stripped of his dubious honor.
A lot can be learned about the culture of a people in a cemetery! For one thing, the plots are rented for a period of time (I was told it is 25 years at a time), and must be well cared for. Each family is responsible to keep their family member's plot nicely landscaped and groomed. Large bricked-in trash boxes are provided as well as hoses and watering cans placed in strategic spots to make it easier to care for the plots. Members of the family have to come quite often to keep their area, however small, weeded and watered!
On the right is a lighted candle which burns 24 hours a day.
This family added a matching bench for contemplation or visiting with their loved one. There are many benches throughout the cemetary.
Some of them look like they were done by professional landscapers.
The grave sites are inspected periodically, and, if they don't meet the expected standards, a warning sticker is placed on the headstone. After a period of time, if no improvements have been made, a 2nd sticker is placed on the headstone. Then, if the plot is still not fixed up, the headstone and all are tossed out and the place is leased to someone else!
There are quite a number of flower shops outside of the cemetery walls. Because of the flowers and shrubbery (planted) on the grave sites, it looks like Memorial Day every day of the year!!! It is nice to see the beauty, creativity and care given to the grave plots! It makes the cemeteries in the US seem quite blah (except for the Memorial Day decorations).
No comments:
Post a Comment