Sudfriedhof Cemetery

Recently my husband Keith and I were in Wiesbaden, Germany to visit "the world's greatest grandchild", Emily. While there, we made a pilgrimage to the Sudfriedhof Cemetery in search of the grave of Manfred von Ricthofen, alias the Red Baron, the World War 1 flying ace.

We had to wander for quite some time through the cemetery before we found it.  I didn't mind spending so much time there because I was fascinated by the graves.  Many of the graves or family plots were decorated.  I'm not talking about a bouquet of flowers.  These plots were landscaped miniature gardens.  Some had ground cover, shrubbery, bedding plants, and stepping stones; little postage stamp gardens.

Some were tended by families and others by gardening services. There were large water troughs and racks of watering cans scattered about in case you needed to supplement the natural rainfall.  The whole effect was very peaceful and charming. We did finally locate the Baron's grave and Keith took lots of photos, but for me it was a little anticlimactic cause I had already taken these photos.

Graves with their gardens. (photos by Karen Metz)

grave 2

grave 3

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