Luxembourg cemeteries (2024)

Green burial initiatives are also underway to reduce the environmental impact of burial practices. These initiatives include the use of biodegradable caskets and the promotion of natural cemeteries to help preserve the environment.

Bonnevoie Cemetery is located in one of the most diverse, populous and multicultural neighborhoods of Luxembourg City. Located behind the main train station, Bonnevoie was once a neighborhood inhabited mainly by working class Luxembourgers, Italians and later Portuguese.

The oldest graves in the Bonnevoie cemetery date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The tombstones are generally large and tall, made of stone or marble, and decorated with crosses, statues of Christ and various representations of the Virgin Mary. Bonnevoie contains many graves of emigrants from southern Europe and their descendants, with a variety of shapes and colorful building materials.

The site is home to a wide variety of emigrants from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, practicing different religions such as Christianity, Islam and other faiths.

Each tree in this cemetery has ten plots, which act as a concession. People must be cremated and can choose to have their ashes scattered at the foot of the tree or in the cemetery. The deposit of ashes may or may not be accompanied by a religious ceremony. If the deceased chooses to be laid to rest at the foot of the tree, a commemorative plaque will be installed, bearing his or her surname, first name, date of birth and date of death.

Shortly thereafter, in 1817, the first Jewish cemetery in Luxembourg was established. It received the first members of the Ettelbruck Jewish community and remained in use until 1884, when the Bellevue cemetery took over.

The synagogue, the Jewish cemetery, the school, and a few old store names are all that remains at first glance of the once thriving Jewish life in Ettelbruck. The first Jewish family arrived in Ettelbruck in 1810. Later, on March 17, 1865, Joseph Cahen, on behalf of the Jewish community living in Ettelbruck, purchased an 8-acre garden for the purpose of building a synagogue, located on today's Rue de Warken. The synagogue was inaugurated in 1870.

It wasn't until 1880 that the city council authorized the construction of a Jewish cemetery on Ditgesbaach. On June 11, 1882, eight-year-old Auguste Levy, son of Feis Levy and Rosine Kahn, was the first to be buried in the new cemetery. This cemetery is still in use today. The last burial took place in 2007.

Founded on December 29, 1944 by the 609th Quartermaster Company of the U.S. Third Army, the cemetery bears witness to the efforts of the Allied forces to counter the enemy's desperate offensive during the Battle of the Ardennes, one of the most important battles of the Second World War. The cemetery contains the graves of 5,070 soldiers, many of whom died during the Battle of the Bulge and the advance to the Rhine. Among the important figures buried here is General George S. Patton, the emblematic symbol of the American war effort in Europe.

The origin of this cemetery is closely linked to the creation of the Luxembourg American Cemetery mentioned above. After the fighting, the American burial service exhumed and regrouped the fallen soldiers. The Americans were regrouped in Hamm, where the Luxembourg American Cemetery was created, while the Germans were buried in Sandweiler, less than two kilometers away. When the American work was completed, the German cemetery already contained 5,599 graves.

In 1952, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the government of Luxembourg signed an agreement on military graves. At Sandweiler, the graves of German soldiers scattered over 150 sites in Luxembourg were brought together, adding another 5,286 bodies to the ossuaries. The cemetery was inaugurated in 1955.

This cemetery dates back to the 18th century. In 1755, a cemetery known as Nikloskierfecht was established near the church of St. Nicholas. However, the church was demolished in 1779. After its demolition, the parish seat of Saint-Nicolas was moved to the former Jesuit church, now the cathedral Notre-Dame de Luxembourg, and the parish cemetery was moved outside the city walls, to the Glacis. The new cemetery was located near the chapel of Notre-Dame, which explains its official name.

The cemetery has two major monuments: the Monument de la Résistance et de la Déportation and the Mausoleum of the French soldiers killed in Luxembourg during the First World War.

An interesting feature of this cemetery is the presence of many remarkable graves. Over the past three years, approximately 54 graves have been marked with QR codes, allowing visitors to access information about the buried individuals by scanning the codes with their mobile phones.

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