Stahnsdorf: Southwest Cemetery, Architecture and Nature

With the Southwest Cemetery, Stahnsdorf offers a focus for culturally minded travelers: architecture, burial culture, cultural events and nature shape the visit. West of Stahnsdorf lies the Parforceheide, whose woodland and open spaces invite you to explore a different focus. When planning your stay, you can choose between cemetery history, a guided visit and longer walks.

Visiting the Southwest Cemetery

The Southwest Cemetery showcases burial culture from two centuries. From March 1 to September 30, visiting hours are 07:00 to 20:00; from October 1 to February 28, they are 07:00 to 18:00. Check the hours before your visit. Cultural events take place on the cemetery grounds and in the chapel; the program may change. If a particular event matters to you, check the event details in advance.

Guided visits combine garden art and burial culture with the cemetery’s natural surroundings. The specific content may vary depending on the program. Tours last around two and a half hours and include a visit to the chapel; availability may change. When planning, check whether a tour is offered on the date of your visit.

Chapel and Funerary Architecture

The Southwest Cemetery opened in 1909 together with a chapel in the style of a Norwegian stave church. However, the cemetery chapel is built horizontally using log construction, not vertically using stave construction. This difference between the model and the construction makes the chapel’s architecture a subject in its own right. The original ensemble of ornamental windows, painted decoration and a Sauer organ has been preserved inside.

The funerary architecture also offers a variety of forms: the grounds contain richly decorated gravestones and oversized grave walls, as well as mausoleums in neoclassical, Expressionist, Baroque and Gothic styles. The cemetery’s art-historical significance is also associated with works by architects and sculptors such as Franz Seeck, Alfred Grenander, Max Taut, Hugo Lederer, Hermann Hosaeus and Emil Cauer. As you walk around, you can take in both individual grave designs and the larger forms of walls and mausoleums.

Walks and Routes

The Parforceheide west of Stahnsdorf is a large, contiguous area of woodland, grassland and dry grassland, as well as fields, hedges and pollarded willows. It is well suited to extended walks. A route overview lists walking and cycling loops connected with the Southwest Cemetery, including circular routes to the Siemens family mausoleum and the Norwegian-style cemetery chapel. This lets you choose between visiting the grounds, going for a walk or taking a cycling tour.

Getting to Stahnsdorf

You can reach Stahnsdorf by bus from Potsdam and Teltow S-Bahn station; by road, the route is via the A115. Check current connections and road conditions before travelling. Stahnsdorf’s transport history includes a former railway line that connected it with Berlin-Wannsee and Berlin-Halensee.

Which focus suits your trip?

Consider whether cultural events or longer walks in nature should shape your stay.

Discover more destinations: Wusterwitz, Groß Kreutz, Roskow, Schwielowsee, Linthe, Wilhelmshorst, Kleinmachnow, Klein Briesen.

Return to the broader travel overview: Potsdam-Mittelmark.