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All Germany Dessau-Roßlau Abandoned Crematorium and Cemetery
Abandoned Crematorium and Cemetery is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Abandoned Crematorium and Cemetery

The ruins of an abandoned crematorium haunt an eerie deserted German cemetery.

Dessau-Roßlau, Germany

Added By
Christine Williamson
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Abandoned Crematorium in Dessau   M_H.DE
Abandoned Crematorium in Dessau   M_H.DE
Inside the abandoned crematorium   olavXO
Mourning Hall of the abandoned crematorium   dsgk
Fallen Urns at the abandoned cemetery in Dessau   JohhnyJackJim
Inside the abandoned crematorium   Oh Cherie, Cherie - Un´ Estate Cosi...
Mourning Hall of the abandoned crematorium   olavXO
Nature is winning back the steps to the abandoned crematorium   olavXO
Well in the western part of the Historical Cemetery Dessau III   M_H.DE
Monument for Oswald Boelcke   M_H.DE
Monument for an armored Infantry Regiment   M_H.DE
Monument for Oswald Boelke   M_H.DE
Memorial for the soldiers of WWII   M_H.DE
Memorial for the victims of Fascism   M_H.DE
Memorial for the victims of the Air Raid on 7th March 1945   M_H.DE
Honor Graveyard WWI at the abandoned cemetery of Dessau   Octopus24
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About

There are parts of this abandoned cemetery in Dessau, Germany where it truly feels like stepping into a horror movie. Fallen tombstones and urns are already spooky, and the creepy reliefs on the stones just add to the dark atmosphere. Then you come across a building that looks like a small chapel. Stepping in, the realization hits: It is an abandoned crematorium.

Most parts of the historic Cemetery III in Dessau are abandoned. The cemetery is divided by a street. The larger western side is a park-like area with plenty of old graves, beautiful monuments, sometimes with quite horrid reliefs and greatly decorated wells all overgrown with ivy. Among others, you'll find a memorial for the victims of fascism and a memorial for the victims of the BAMAG-Disaster, a 1918 explosion in a workshop at a WWI munitions factory that killed 56 workers, mostly women and young girls. 

There are more signs of abandonment in the eastern part of the cemetery. Here many tombstones have fallen over and stone urns lay on the ground. Nature is winning back the place in some areas, though certain monuments are still cared for; there are several monuments for the casualties of both the First and Second World War.

Then, also in the eastern part of the cemetery, you'll come across a building with a dome roof, protected as a historic monument. This domed structure is an abandoned crematorium, constructed in 1910 and in working order until the late 1980s. It's believed more than 100,000 bodies were cremated here, many buried in an adjoining urn grave field. The crematorium was later expanded with a new wing, which also stands abandoned today. Inside the older cremation system you'll see a rotary hub on tracks, and in the newer system, the bone mill and other items can still be found. Urns, number tacks and old paperwork are still here, as are the old telephones and even shoes. 

The most famous person who was burned here was the social democrat and anti-fascist Wilhelm Feuerherdt, who was killed in 1932 in Zerbst during a pub fight with a group of Nazis. He died from severe stabbing wounds in the face and the back and was later cremated here. Still the abandoned crematorium has attracted attention purely for its eerie desertion. In 2012 it was visited by a Austrian filmmaker Nikolaus Geyrhalter to shoot a film called Irgendwann (Sometimes), a documentary about abandoned and deserted places in the world, the end of humanity, and what we will leave behind.

Related Tags

Cemeteries Abandoned Abandoned Cemeteries

Know Before You Go

As with all old and decaying buildings it might not be hazard free to visit the crematorium. Walking around in the building should be done very carefully.

Community Contributors

Added By

Christine Williamson

Edited By

TheMarmoset

  • TheMarmoset

Published

September 28, 2016

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Sources
  • http://www.fof-ohlsdorf.de/kulturgeschichte/2010/110s17_feuer
  • http://www.anhalt-dessau.de/anhalt_geschichte/anhalt_geschichte_katastrophen.php
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Boelcke
  • http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2016/09/abandoned-crematorium-germany/
  • http://dessau.de/Deutsch/News/?NewsID=1957
  • https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Friedhof_III_(Dessau)
  • http://www.rottenplaces.de/main/krematorium-dessau-5610/
  • http://www.dessau-geschichte.de/dessau_geschichte_gedenken.php
  • https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ehrenfriedhof_(Dessau)
Abandoned Crematorium and Cemetery
125 Heidestraße
Dessau-Roßlau
Germany
51.813109, 12.242791
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