All Soul's Day

Today, Allerseelen, or All Soul's Day, is a holiday in the region of Germany where we live. All businesses are closed for the day, and many people spend the day visiting the graves of loved ones.

In Mainz, many will place Newweling, a candle made of strands of differently colored wax-dipped wicks wrapped around a wooden cone, on the graves of loved ones.  These candles are produced only in Mainz by the Krohn family, who has hand-crafted these candles for four generations.

The origin of the candle is a bit muddy, but it's said that Frau Rich Hilde Sobernheim decreed in her will, dated 1347, that a portion of her estate should be used to purchase wax which should then be used as a means to remember her.  The candles are typically white, green, red and yellow or any combination of the aforementioned colors.    

I decided to take Log and Littlest to the Mainzer Hauptfriedhof while Bop was at swimming practice in order that we should buy a Newweling.   There were none left to be had when we arrived late afternoon.  

Log, Littlest and I took to walking through the cemetery and entered through the Jewish section.  Today is 'Day of the Cemeteries' in Mainz and several cultural programs were offered.  

German cemeteries are beautifully kept, and today, many people who visited the cemetery left behind lit candles, wreaths, fresh flowers and meaningful mementos.  German graves typically feature a raised, walled-in bed which is cultivated and meticulously maintained.  The three of us saw many people cleaning away fallen leaves and pruning shrubbery planted on the graves.  

By contrast, the Jewish section featured little in terms of adornment but was powerful with its Hebrew inscriptions and monuments to those who lost their lives in the Holocaust.  Interestingly enough, the Jewish section is fenced off from the adjacent Germany cemetery making it impossible to traverse from one section into another.  In a bit of cruel irony, German World War II veterans are buried on the other side of the fence and are within view of the graves of Holocaust victims.

The cemetery also features sections of French soldiers, Arab speaking soldiers in French colonies, Nuns, WWI veterans, and children in addition to many family plots.

*click on photos for better resolution

Newwelinge - photo source:  German Wikipedia
 

 Log and Littlest buffeting themselves against the cold while visiting the Jewish section.

 The Waldmann family lost loved ones in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz concentration camps. The date of death is known for Hermine Waldmann, who died in Theresienstadt, but the date of death of Fanny Zurndorfer, who was deported to Auschwitz in 1942, is not.

 The Jewish section; note the fence which separates this section from the other sections.

 View of a walkway leading one through the German section.  Notice the 'walled-in' graves.

 Monument to the French soldiers and French graves.

 Monument to the German dead of WWI and WWI

WWII graves; a sign asked that flowers not be laid on these graves and instead should be placed at the memorial pictured above.  The two are some distance apart.  I noticed that someone defied the notice and placed lit candles and a basket of flowers near to one of the graves.

Another view of raised German graves