Halloween Graveyard Tour
No, it’s not as gruesome as it sounds! This is a virtual graveyard tour to find the final
resting place of some famous Germans, Austrians, and German Swiss --- and to learn
more about the cemeteries and the persons buried in them. I’ll help you with some
guidance and some Web tools.
Our search for famous German-speakers will take us to graveyards all around the world.
Karl Marx, for example, was born in Germany, but he’s not buried there. Do you know
where his remains rest in peace? Do you know much about his claim to fame? Where is
the “Red Baron” (Manfred von Richthofen) of WWI fame buried? (Hint: He was buried
three times!) That’s the goal of this project: not only to learn about some famous and notso-famous Germanic types, but also to learn where they’re buried.
This Halloween Graveyard Tour will introduce you to at least three cemeteries where
three famous German-speakers have their graves. You will learn something about the
cemetery as well as the person resting there.
See the instructions for this activity below.
The Activity
Web version of this activity from About.com
Instructions – Unlike the similar tombstone activity, this project concentrates on the
cemeteries where famous people have found their final resting place (die letzte Ruhe).
You still need to find out something about the person, but the focus is more on the
cemetery, the grave, and the location. Here are the steps required for Activity 1:
1. Find and select three different cemeteries where a famous person born in German
Europe is buried. Use the Web and other resources to do this.
2. If available, print out the photo (or make a copy of a photo) of the grave/grave
marker for each to the three people you selected. Don’t forget to give proper
photo credits!
3. Draw out your own version of the person’s tombstone or grave marker, including
this information (in German): (a) full name, (b) date and location of birth and
death, (c) burial place (not always where the person died!), (d) either a real
epitaph or one you make up for that person (keep it short).
4. On a standard sheet of paper, provide historic and other interesting facts about
each cemetery in German. Are any other famous people (German or not) buried
there?
5. In German, list at least two things you learned that you find most interesting
(either the person or the cemetery).
NOTE: It does not matter in which country the cemetery is located, but the person
must have been born in Austria, Germany, German Switzerland, or any other
German-speaking country.
This famous actor/director/producer was born in Potsdam, Germany, on January 22,
1893. He died in Hollywood, California on April 3, 1943 of a heart attack.