Municipal Cemetery in Cieszyn

The Municipal Cemetery on ulica Katowicka is the largest necropolis in Cieszyn. It was opened in 1891, when the cemetery by St George's Church, founded in 1884, ceased to be sufficient for the town. It covers 6.94 hectares and is listed in the heritage register.

Gate, chapel and layout

The entrance is marked by an ornate gate in the style of Austrian Baroque, crowned by a dome. Until 1950 a bell hung in it, which was rung during funerals. Two large bas-reliefs, “The Entombment” and “The Resurrection of Christ”, are set into the side walls of the gate. Next to it stand the funeral chapel and the administration building. The sections are rectangular or square and are covered with numerous trees. In the oldest part they are marked with historic cast-iron plates from the ironworks in Třinec, and the new part is clearly separated from the older one.

Who is buried here

In the main avenue is the Tomb of the Distinguished, in which are buried, among others, Gustaw Morcinek, Karol Miarka, Paweł Stalmach, Józef Londzin and Maria Wardas. In the new part of the cemetery the ashes of Gwido Langer, a co-creator of the success in breaking Enigma, were laid in 2010. Among the historic gravestones, the monument of Mayor Johann Demel von Elswehr, in the form of a catafalque with a coffin, from 1897, stands out.

War and monastic sections

The cemetery has sections for soldiers of the First World War, a grave of victims of the Second World War and a collective grave of 81 people shot by the Nazis, moved from the Old Jewish Cemetery in Cieszyn. There are also sections for Cieszyn's religious congregations. Most of the German inscriptions on the gravestones have been destroyed.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Katowicka 34, Cieszyn.
• The cemetery is active and entry is free; keep to the solemnity of the place and avoid visiting during funerals.
• The oldest gravestones lie near the gate, and the newer part is further on.