Geusenfriedhof
Geusenfriedhof is a small cemetery in Cologne, behind the university library among modern buildings. Trees shade weathered graves and partly overgrown paths. Coats of arms and symbols of death mark many gravestones within the quiet grounds.
Founded in 1576, the cemetery became the oldest Protestant burial ground in the Rhineland, with its first burial in 1584. Its name comes from gueux, a French word meaning beggars. Ursula von Gohr zu Kaldenbroek, a Catholic noblewoman, donated the land for Protestant burials. For centuries, it remained Cologne’s only place for Protestant burials, until religious liberalisation allowed them at Melaten in 1829.
The last burial came in 1875, after which neglect gradually obscured the grounds. Monument protection began in 1981, and the Protestant community has since restored gravestones and paths. Behind the university library, weathered stones still show coats of arms beneath the trees.
- City
- Cologne
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