The new Neurieder Friedhof on Lindenallee is changing. The greening no longer corresponds to the original planting concept. Different bushes and trees are growing than the planners had envisaged in 1981, when the cemetery was created. But it should stay that way, the building and environment committee of the municipal council decided on Tuesday. A citizen’s motion at a past town hall meeting to restore the cemetery to its original condition was denied. The fact that the cemetery’s green concept was recognized with a specialist prize more than 40 years ago was also not an argument for the committee.
“Overgrown” and “unfortunate replacement plantings” would impair the quality of the park-like public green space, the citizen had formulated in his application. The town hall administration saw things differently: a public green space is subject to natural change and, on top of that, a cemetery, unlike a park, primarily fulfills a purpose. And in this regard, burial culture has changed significantly over the past few decades. Urn graves or tree graves are now more desirable than large family graves. This also has an impact on the planting and sometimes requires structural changes in the cemetery area.