The Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf is a cemetery in a forest belonging to the city quarter Zehlendorf (now Nikolasee) of Berlin, Germany. It was created after World War II and is one of the cemeteries in Berlin where you can find the graves of celebrities which have a strong connection to the city. The cemetery still has the character of a forest and you can enjoy long walks in nice nature; while doing so you will find the graves of personalities like Jakob Kaiser, Paul Löbe, Walter Scheel and Otto Suhr.
The best-known personalities on the cemetery can be found very close to each other: Ernst Reuter, mayor of West Berlin between 1948 and 1953 can be found close to actress and singer Hildegard Knef (“Für mich soll’s rote Rosen regnen“; ‘It should rain red roses for me‘). And not far away you can remember Herbert Frahm who adopted the name Willy Brandt while continuing his political work in exile at Oslo during Nazi reign. In 1938 his citizenship was taken, he received it back in 1948. Willy Brandt became a reporter during the Spanish Civil War and later the Nuremberg trials.
Brandt became Governing Mayor of West Berlin and led the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He was foreign minister and later the forth chancellor of West Germany (1969-1974). Willy Brandt will always be remembered for the Kniefall von Warschau (‘Warsaw genuflection‘), when he knelt down at the former Warsaw ghetto facing the human suffering caused by his predecessors. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 and had to resign in 1974 caused by the Guillaume state affair (one of his closest employees was exposed as a Stasi agent).
The Waldfriedhof also has a section for Italian victims of World War II; 1,170 prisoners of war have been buried there. To get to the cemetery best take S-Bahn S1 to Mexikoplatz (for example from Brandenburger Tor or Anhalter Bahnhof) and switch there to bus 118 taking you to Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf. It is a longer trip to the southwest but you can combine it with a trip to the Schlachtensee or Wannsee.
Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf
Nikolassee
Wasgensteig
14129 Berlin
Germany
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