Funeral Service Times August 2017 October 2018 | Page 35

CEMETERIES AROUND THE WORLD 35
supporter chant which claimed fans of the
Argentinian club would support the side
even after death and has proved popular
with over 3,000 fans taking up plots on the
site. At HSV Cemetery there are significantly
fewer graves with around 500 plots,
however the passion remains the same with
most fans claiming they chose to be buried
in the cemetery either to avoid being laid to
rest near a supporter of cross-city rivals St
Pauli, or so that they will always know the
score.
Local undertakers and funeral directors
offer special services to those being buried
in the cemetery. Supporters can choose to
have clips of their favourite matches played
at the on-site chapel, with funeral directors
SCI Deutschland saying they keep a film of
the 1983 UEFA Cup victory on hand due to
its popularity. For use of the Hamburger SV
crest during the ceremony or on the coffin/
headstone the club charges a licencing fee
which it then uses for the upkeep of the
cemetery.
Prices for burial at the cemetery begin
at around £315 for ashes to be buried in a
club branded urn, the club also offers more
elaborate graves and memorials at prices as
high as £1,900. HSV makes no profit from
the cemetery with all money raised from
the ceremonies also going towards upkeep,
with four local funeral directors permitted
by the club to carry out services at the
cemetery.
The club said it began plans to open
its own cemetery when it found it was
constantly rejecting calls, emails and letters
from supporters asking to be buried under
the penalty spot (as supporters of English
club Everton are) or have their ashes
scattered (illegal in Germany) across the
pitch. The locality of cemetery to stadium
not only means that fans will remain close
to the club they followed all their life but
also those whom they watched games with
can make an easy trip to visit the graves on
match days.
Hamburger SV and Boca Juniors actions
have led to other clubs taking up the idea
with Brazilian club Corinthians beginning the
construction of a 70,000 plot cemetery for
both players and supporters in 2014. Closer
to home, HSV’s Bundesliga rivals Schalke
www.funeralservicetimes.co.uk
04 opened their own similar cemetery in
2012, the club also offers baptisms and
marriage services in its chapel on the site
of the cemetery which is located in sight of
the Gelsenkirchen, the team’s home ground.
Like HSV, Schalke doesn’t see a euro from
the proceeds raised, it all goes to the
upkeep of the cemetery.
THE MAIN CEMETERY
As previously mentioned, the HSV cemetery
is a special section located in the northern
part of the Altona Main Cemetery. It is the
fourth largest burial ground in Hamburg and
has been a protected site since 2013 when
the Hamburg Monument Protection Law
was revised.
It was planned in 1913 by Ferdinand
Tutenberg who was a director of gardens,
and was meant to be the central cemetery
for what was the District of Altona at
the time. It was made to replace the
smaller burial grounds which was already
established in the area. Construction began
in 1920 with the first burial taking place on 2
October 1923 before the cemetery officially
opened on 1 November of the same year.
Tutenberg wished to make the cemetery
a place where those with little money could
still have a respectable burial. He said of
his plans for the cemetery: “A visitor to
the dead will not have the view of rows of
graves stretching away into the distance
but through the smaller space of the little
garden... will have the opportunity for inner
composure.”
The cemetery has 1,856 war graves which
are mostly inhabited with those from World
War II. While many are fallen soldiers, a
great number are civilians who were killed
during the bombing of Altona.
According to records from 2012, more
than 100,000 burials had taken place at the
cemetery.
NOTABLE GRAVES
MAX BRAUER (3 SEPTEMBER
1887 - 2 FEBRUARY 1973)
Brauer was a German politician and was
the mayor of Altona before becoming the
first mayor of Hamburg to be elected after
World War II when the former independent
city was incorporated into the Hamburg.
FERDINAND TUTENBERG (27
MAY 1874 - 12 MARCH 1956)
Tutenberg was the German garden designer
and director who was later buried in the
cemetery he designed. His most notable
work is Hamburg’s largest public park
Altonaer Volkspark, which has been a listed
site since September 2002.
BERNHARD SCHNACKENBURG (5
JULY 1867 - 27 JANUARY 1924)
Another mayor to be buried in the
cemetery’s grounds, Schnackenburg was
the mayor of the District of Altona from 1909
until his passing.
ADOLF JÄGER (31 MARCH 1889 -
21 NOVEMBER 1944)
Jäger was an amateur football player who
competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics as
part of the German squad and is considered
to be Germany’s first football hero. He
played one match for the country and
scored the team’s only goal. He died during
World War II, while working for bomb
sweep in Hamburg.
OCTOBER 2018