The Jewish Cemetery in Berlin’s Weißensee district is a major historical monument as well as a natural habitat with great biodiversity. In some parts of the grounds, wild growth structures have developed, which lead to special challenges: the Jewish community wishes for the facility to be preserved and cared for as a place of burial and memorial; historical preservation entities are pledged to the preservation of the important  garden- and monument sites; and in terms of nature conservation, retention of the existing biological diversity plays a major role. Therefore the project’s goal was to fairly consider all participants in planning the preservation and development of the cemetery site.

Based on a status analysis, and with the participation of all concerned parties, the project partners developed a mission statement. The stated objective was the protection and preservation of the cemetery, with its outstanding monumental substance and significant biological diversity, as a cultural memorial site. The proposed measures were tested in a model procedure within the project framework, in three burial fields. In the process grave shrubbery was tended, wooded groves were carefully thinned out, and the structural security of the tomb architecture typical of the  Weißensee Jewish Cemetery was improved. 

Project implementation:
TU Berlin, Fachgebiet
Ökosystemkunde/Pflanzenökologie
Rothenburgstr. 12
12165 Berlin
www.tu-berlin.de/oekosys

Project partner:
TU Berlin, Fachgebiet Bau- und Stadtbaugeschichte TU Berlin, Fachgebiet Vegetationstechnik und Pflanzenverwendung

Cooperation partner:
Landesdenkmalamt Berlin
Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung Berlin, Oberste Naturschutzbehörde  
Jüdische Gemeinde zu Berlin, Friedhofsverwaltung Weißensee
Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin – Centrum Judaicum

AZ 29773