Guided walking tour through Melaten Cemetary

For more than two centuries, the Melaten Cemetery has been a place of tranquillity and social and cultural reflection in the midst of Cologne's pulsating hustle and bustle. Originally established outside the city walls to care for the sick, the cemetery today presents itself as a special space for encounters between history, culture and nature. More than 55,000 deceased rest between imposing trees and listed graves, including prominent personalities such as Dirk Bach, the Millowitsch family, Willi Ostermann and Johann Maria Farina, the creator of the original Eau de Cologne. Historic gravestones and sculptures, ranging from classicist simplicity to Gothic-inspired elements and playful neo-baroque symbols, make the cemetery a mirror of the aesthetic developments and cultural trends of different eras.

A guided tour of Melaten opens up a view of these multi-layered contexts, encourages a critical and at the same time mindful consideration of our relationship to mortality and remembrance and focuses on the social responsibility of an inclusive approach to death and mourning culture.

Duration of the tour: 120 minutes