Lübbecke
The City Cemetery
The cemetery was established in 1839. Adjacent to its northeast side are two other cemeteries: the Oberbauerschafter Cemetery and the Jewish Cemetery.
Because the Lübbecke City Council was still the patron of the old cemetery at St. Andrew’s Church in 1839, it had the legal authority to establish a municipal cemetery.
Burials had always taken place around St. Andrew’s Church. Members of the nobility and high-ranking clergy had burial plots in the church. For the salvation of their souls, it was important to the people to be close to God. In 1799, the Kingdom of Prussia ordered the city council to relocate the cemetery outside the city gates. Given the findings of advancing science and the looming threat of epidemics, the cemetery was no longer to be used there. The citizens drew their drinking water from wells within the city limits. Nevertheless, the city council delayed moving the cemetery outside the city limits for 40 years. Ultimately, fear of cholera and other epidemics, along with pressure from the authorities, forced them to act.
On July 7, 1839, the new cemetery was inaugurated with a ceremony. At that time, Lübbecke had 2,500 inhabitants, including 30 Catholics and 100 Jews. Twenty-five years later, the first expansion was necessary. Shortly before that, the Jewish cemetery had been incorporated into the municipal cemetery. The municipal cemetery was subsequently expanded several times, most recently in 1998.