The world is so arranged that life and death have always been and will be near. That is why, many millennia ago, mankind began to create necropolises, where the deceased found their last refuge.
Since Moscow has existed for more than 860 years, many cemeteries appeared and disappeared in its vicinity. With the growth of the territory of the capital, many necropolises appeared within the city and from time to time became historical. Among them is the German cemetery in Moscow, which today is better known as Vvedenskoye.
History
The Vvedensky German cemetery in Moscow was founded in 1771, during a terrible plague epidemic. Since several hundred townspeople died every day, which it was not possible to bury at existing cemeteries, the authorities had to urgently allocate land for burial. One of them ended up in the Lefortovo area and got its name from Vvedensky hill, located on the left bank of the Yauza River. In addition, he was often called German. The fact is that Catholics and Lutherans were often buried in the Vvedensky cemetery. In the 18th century, common people called them Germans, regardless of nationality, so this nickname was assigned to the new churchyard.
German cemetery in Moscow: list of burials
Among the celebrities who found their last shelter at the Vvedensky cemetery, there are many representatives of various professions. Of the most famous personalities whose tombstones can be seen if you visit the German cemetery in Moscow, you can not help but name:
- the closest ally and friend of Peter the Great, Franz Lefort;
- Admiral General Patrick Gordon;
- artists Victor and Apollinaria Vasnetsovs;
- composer Alexander Gedike;
- Academician N. Koltsov;
- Metropolitan Tryphon (Turkestanov);
- writer Valery Agranovsky;
- satirist Arkady Arkanov;
- poetess Vera Inber;
- film director Yuri Ozerov;
- writer Mikhail Prishvin;
- Director Mikhail Kozakov;
- actress M. Zubarev;
- Senator B. Hermes;
- parody poet Alexander Ivanov;
- actress Tatyana Peltzer;
- sports commentator Nikolai Ozerov;
- scout Rudolf Abel;
- writer Irakli Andronnikov;
- and many others.
Legends
The old German cemetery in Moscow (see address below) is also interesting for its legends. For example, there is the tombstone of Fyodor Haas or, as he was also called, the “holy doctor”. According to legend, it was built with money from prisoners in the capital's prisons, as evidenced by the shackles that adorn the monument. The fact is that Haaz was the chief physician of Moscow correctional institutions and did much to alleviate the suffering of prisoners. In particular, it was he who succeeded in replacing heavy shackles with lightweight shackles, kept a prison at his own expense and opened a school for children of prisoners. The gratitude of the prisoners was unlimited, therefore, more than 20, 000 Muscovites came to guide Fedor Haaz on their last journey, which was significantly more than the number of people who ever followed the hearse of the kings.
They also say that a recipe for a real Olivier salad was buried in Vvedensky cemetery. Moreover, with his author, more precisely with his grave, a real detective story is connected. It turns out that the burial place of the famous chef Lucien Olivier was discovered only in 2008, although the tombstone has been in the cemetery since 1883. How they could not notice a monument with such a famous name for so many years is not very clear, but today there is an even more interesting situation: well-known metropolitan restaurants are fighting for the right to care for Olivier’s grave, since this circumstance can be used for advertising purposes.
Another interesting legend tells that the body of Peter the Great General Gordon, who was a famous drunkard during his lifetime, was transported from the cemetery to the cemetery for a long time until they were interred in Vvedensky. After some time, the grave mysteriously disappeared, and pages from the cemetery’s book indicating the place of burial disappeared. After that, the ghost of the general began to appear among the graves, banging the plates with the heels of his boots, and scaring visitors.
Interesting Facts
Not many people know that the German cemetery in Moscow became the burial place of the French military army of Napoleon and the Normandy-Niemen aviation division, which fought with the Nazis in close cooperation with the Soviet troops. In the 50s of the last century, the ashes of the pilots were transported to their homeland, but the tombstones remained. Moreover, the site on which they are recognized as the territory of the French Republic. In addition, the Vvedensky cemetery has a mass grave of German soldiers who died captive from wounds during the First World War.
Monument to railway workers at the German cemetery in Moscow
On one of the alleys you can see the monument, which is a large granite banner. The inscription is made on it: "For the power of the Soviets - 1905-1917." It turns out that this monument was erected at the burial place of railway workers V. Solodukhin, V. Lebedev, E. Kukhmistrov and S. Terekhov and is dedicated to all the revolutionaries who died from 1905 to 1917.
Temples and Chapels
Today in the cemetery you can see several religious buildings. For example, recently a Lutheran house of worship began to operate there again, under which the church built in 1911 was taken. Also in the cemetery is an Orthodox chapel in the Gothic style with modern elements. It was built according to the project of V. A. Rudanovsky.
The most famous among the religious buildings of the Vvedensky cemetery is the Erlanger Chapel, erected in 1911-1914. It was designed by the famous architect F. Schechtel, who managed to create a real masterpiece. This building is recognized as an object of cultural and historical significance on an all-Russian scale and invariably arouses the interest of visitors to the cemetery. Erlanger Chapel is the only active Orthodox chapel in the Vvedensky cemetery. For many years it was desolate and began to collapse. Then Tamara Pavlovna Kronkoyan took up the matter, who, remaining an orphan, spent most of her life on this graveyard, caring for the graves. She collected donations and began to clean up the chapel regularly. As a result of her efforts, the chapel was revived. Its main decoration and shrine is a mosaic panel depicting the Christ the Sower, created according to the sketch of the artist K. Petrov-Vodkin.
By the way, today nobody reliably knows where the custom came from to write their desires on the walls of the Vvedensky chapels, but every day new prayers of fate appear on them. And there you can see both requests for health for loved ones or the birth of a long-awaited baby, and the successful passing of the exam. And recently, someone wrote there, “I want all the best!”
Address
Getting to the German cemetery in Moscow is quite simple. After all, it is located at ul. Cash, 1, in the Southeast AO of the capital in the Lefortovo area. There is excellent transport accessibility, so the cemetery can be reached on several routes. For example, after reaching the Aviamotornaya metro station, you should use trams 46, 43, 32 and get off at the stop of the Sputnik cinema (3 stops). Then you need to turn right and go to the gate in the Gothic style, on which there is a sign with the corresponding inscription.
