CMENTARZ CENTRALNY W SZCZECINIE ZARYS PROBLEMATYKI KONSERWATORSKIEJ

• Authors: Maciej Słomiński

Title variants

EN

CENTRAL CEMETERY IN SZCZECIN CONSERVATION OUTLINE

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The Central Cemetery in Scenic was established in 1900, and the first funerals were conducted on 6 December 1901. The project of the necropolis was devised by Wilhelm Meyer-Schwartau, who in 1891-1921 held the post of the municipal building councillor (town architect). The co-author of the design was Georg Hannig, cemetery director in 1900-1928. The first stage involved the eastern part of the necropolis with meandering lanes along both sides of the vista axis. The Neo-Romanesque buildings erected in 1900-1904, and designed by Wilhelm Meyer Schwartau, included the main gate, modelled on campo santo Italian cemeteries, and a chapel situated along the axis of the premise with a central plan. A rectangular pool was located in front of the chapel. The central part of the necropolis stretching along the Topolowa (today: Widokowa) lane was set up after 1918, while the western part with three long lanes running along two streams, perpendicularly to the premise axis, dates back to the 1920s. A new modernist chapel in Leszczynowa lane was built in 1928-1930. The Szczecin necropolis is an example of a landscape cemetery in which the final effect was co-created by plants, landscaping, buildings, and sepulchral art. The older, eastern part of the cemetery is distinct for an unhampered composition, while the younger parts, made up of rectangular sections, were originally a geometric configuration. After 1945 the terraces along the axis were adapted for a war cemetery for about 3 000 Soviet and more than 300 Polish soldiers and civilians. A Heroes’ Hill was created after the war around the round pool, but representative sections and a regularly planned lower part of the so-called urn Grove had been destroyed, while former glades and areas intentionally left without graves were used for new burials sites. The central and western parts of the necropolis were reused in the 1970s and the 1980s, preserving the former spatial configuration and landscape features, totally ignored while establishing new sections outside the historical boundaries of the cemetery. The species of plants changed – poplars growing along Widokowa lane withered, as did numerous birches and coniferous trees. The main gate, damaged in 1941, was rebuilt in 1959-1963, but the main chapel was not recreated until 1983-1994. The modernist chapel from 1930 was pulled down in 1984. The post-war period also witnessed the demolition and devastation of a majority of the old gravestones. In 1984 the Central Cemetery was listed in a register of historical monuments. Recently, work has been initiated on projects for the revalorisation of particular parts of the necropolis, i. a. a lapidarium to be situated in an upper part of the urn Grove, recreated according to old plans. The main gate and the round pool behind the chapel are also to be repaired. The triangular pool on the axis of Widokowa lane also requires thorough repair, and historical gravestones await conservation. At present, the cemetery administration, supported by the Voivodeship Conservator of Historical Monuments and the Society of the Central Cemetery in Szczecin (established in 2003) are making efforts to secure the necessary funds.

Keywords

PL

Cmentarz Centralny; Szczecin; Wilhelm Meyer-Schwartau; Georg Hannig; gaj urnowy; cmentarz wojenny; lapidarium

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 2005
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 85-104

Dates

published

2005

Contributors

author

Maciej Słomiński

• mgr, absolwent Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, zajmuje się nowożytną architekturą i sztuką Szczecina i Pomorza Zachodniego. Opublikował jako autor lub współautor m.in. „Szczecińskie Podzamcze, kwartały XIV i XVII”, „Pałac Młodzieży w Szczecinie, dawna willa Augusta Lentza”, „Szczecin barokowy. Architektura lat 1630-1780”, „Cmentarz Centralny w Szczecinie. Ogromny park pochował umarłych...”; artykuły w periodykach i wydawnictwach Stowarzyszenia Historyków Sztuki. Pracuje w Wojewódzkim Urzędzie Ochrony Zabytków i w Regionalnym Ośrodku Badań i Dokumentacji Zabytków w Szczecinie. Od 2004 r. jest prezesem Stowarzyszenia na Rzecz Cmentarza Centralnego w Szczecinie. Współpracuje z redakcją „Katalogu Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce” Instytutu Sztuki PAN i z Instytutem Architektury i Planowania Przestrzennego Politechniki Szczecińskiej.

Identifiers

ISSN

0029-8247