Two new photos I took, kinda gross

[Kirsten]

Took a walk across our local graveyard today, and came across a pile of waste, and there were several grave stones in the debris, waiting for their disposal. Sort of sad, isn't it?

http://www.catmom.de/pix/ende1.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/pix/ende2.jpg


Kirsten

[catnapper]

Sad, but very interesting. I love old cemertaries and find them fascinating places.

What does the inscription say?

[moosmom]

Hey Kim,

Hope you don't mind, but the word is CEMETERIES. That's been a pet peeve of mine for years!!! As I was taught, you don't TARRY in a CEMETERY.

Johanna,

Since I forgot my glasses before going to work, my eyes aren't working too well. What's it all about???

[slleipnir]

I agree, it is sad...but very interesting too...I like how you made it black and white.

[kuhio98]

I wonder why these grave stones are being removed? Are the grave stones being replaced? Were the bodies moved?

[Kirsten]

I wonder why these grave stones are being removed? Are the grave stones being replaced? Were the bodies moved?

On German cemeteries, graves are usually removed after 30 years, unless there are still relatives who rebuy the place. The contracts for urne graves even expire after 20 years.

The bodies however - or what's left of them - remain in the ground.



Kim, I also love taking photographs in old graveyards, it's a peaceful atmosphere.

The inscription of the first stone reads:

Adele Rech
nee Steuer
19.7.1886 - 12.1.1956

In memory of our dear father
Friedrich Wilhelm Rech
1888 - 1945


Obviously hubby Friedrich Wilhelm has died in WW2, as there's this military cross below his name.

Can't read much of the inscription of the second stone, you can only see the name, Gustav Mueller.

Kirsten

[Anita Cholaine]

They are sad, but I find them beautiful at the same time.
We have a really old cementery in Buenos Aires, full of great sculptures and statues. It a wonderful historical place to take good photographs...

[Kirsten]

It a wonderful historical place to take good photographs...


Sounds like an interesting place indeed!


BTW, here are some older cemetery photos I took some years ago, before I had a digicam.

http://www.kirsten-scheffel.de/bw5.jpg

http://www.kirsten-scheffel.de/bw4.jpg

http://www.kirsten-scheffel.de/bw6.jpg

http://www.kirsten-scheffel.de/bw7.jpg


What do you think of them?
(Could be that some of you have seen them before on www.kirsten-scheffel.de)

Kirsten

[Anita Cholaine]

Those are wonderful! I really love your photography, I'm looking at your site now....

Maybe I should post some of the photos I took in the cementery, I need to resize them first...

[Kirsten]

Thank you! :)

Oh yes, please post them, I would like to see your photos! :)

Kirsten

[gini]

The photos are wonderful. It does however, make me wonder what happens to the records of these people buried there?

So many times people have been able to piece together a family history through grave markers that they found. And only because the written history has been lost or destroyed.

[Toby's my baby]

Those are great, sad at the same time though. I love the ones that you posted second, not taken with your digi cam, they are great!!

....off to check out your website.....

EDIT: your website won't work for me...:( ??

[Kirsten]

EDIT: your website won't work for me... ??

Oops, edited the link, it should work now.



And only because the written history has been lost or destroyed.

Well, I think people can get their infos at the registry offices, as long as they are not destroyed by fire, natural disasters or war... :confused:

Kirsten

[catnapper]

Hey Kim,

Hope you don't mind, but the word is CEMETERIES. That's been a pet peeve of mine for years!!! As I was taught, you don't TARRY in a CEMETERY.

Johanna,

Since I forgot my glasses before going to work, my eyes aren't working too well. What's it all about???
Woops.... I really bothced that word up -- my bad typing even stuck in an extra R. :o LOL Thanks for the spelling -- I am not the world's best speller (even worse typer) but I like to know for future reference!

Wow Kirsten, graves expire? I can't imagine doing that here in the US, but it does proove to be a useful practice. Only so much land and lots of people to fill it.

[Kirsten]

Only so much land and lots of people to fill it.

Yep, that's the point - we're pretty overcrowded here. Of course all the ancient, historical graveyards will remain, but they remove the newer graves. You'll buy the places for 30 or 20 years, and after that they indeed "expire" and you have to make a new contract - for a lot of money, of course. I learnt from my mother today that my father's urne grave will probably be removed next year - his passing will be 20 years ago in 2007. That's really a strange thought, as it still seems like yesterday that we buried him.

Kirsten

[Karen]

It is very sad that the gravestones are removed if you don't fork over more money for upkeep. It is not that way here in the U.S., there is a cemetery through the wood behind our neighborhood, and there are gravestones in there that have been there since its founding in 1885.

I know we are a much younger country, but 30 years seems like nothing in the span of time.

[Suki Wingy]

On German cemeteries, graves are usually removed after 30 years, unless there are still relatives who rebuy the place. The contracts for urne graves even expire after 20 years.
THAT is what's sad That's HISTORY there!
I love wandering through old cemeteries looking for really old ones and seeing in a way they whay different people deal with death.

[lizbud]

I think this is very sad., almost goulish ,to desecrate the ground & remove
the headstones. I'm very glad they don't do that here. I knew there was a
good reason to chose cremation for myself. :)

[sirrahbed]

It is sad to me in the sense that history is being destroyed. But, if there are no longer living relatives - and space is so very limited - it makes sense. 20 to 30 years sure doesn't seem like very long though.

Kirsten I love your beautiful pictures! I used to visit cemeteries and once had a hobby of making etchings of the more interesting tombstones. I would use blank newsprint and wax to make copies. One actually read something like "gone and rood riddance" - I had to wonder about THAT bit of history!!

[Alysser]

Those are wonderful photos but it's also very saddening. When, I went to Italy, the Villa we stayed in had a cemetery as you drove up the driveway. WHICH was very very very long. Some of the stones dated back to the 1600's!

[Kirsten]

Thank you! :)

Yes, the more I think about it, I think it's sad that they get removed. Like I said, the really old ones still exist, but in a couple of centuries, our graves of today will be history for the future people, and that history will be lost forever.

Debbie, OMG! :eek: Makes you wonder what kind of guy was buried there!



Some of the stones dated back to the 1600's!

Italy is a country with such an amazing history, really old and impressive. I would like to go there some day and take pictures of all the ancient places.

Kirsten

[ramanth]

I love your photos Kirsten! I have several prints of my friend's photos of gravestones and graveyards.

I love them. :)

[Sonia59]

Nice pics! And thanks for the link to your website, I did not know about this one :D

What kind of digital camera do you have? Are you satisfied about black and white pictures you take with them? Your older pictures (not taken with a digital cam, right?) are, to my opinion, much better. ;) I always find that B&W digital pics are a bit "flat". Just a personal opinion, but I am curious to know if you share it ;)

[Kirsten]

Sonia, I think it's an interesting point that you've made! It's true that when you want to give your b/w pictures an old, historical look, digital photos are often too clear, too cold and they lack of atmosphere. Don't know how to express it any better.

Thanks for signing the guestbook btw! :)

Forgot to say: I use a Canon PowerShot A200 for more than three years. I'm satisfied with the close-ups, but not with landscape shots. I plan to get a another one by the end of the year.

Kirsten