Cemetery of Honor Maschsee-Nordufer

© LHH

Since its founding in 2010, the Municipal Remembrance Culture Office of the State Capital of Hanover has provided scholarly oversight of the memorial at the Maschsee-Nordufer Cemetery of Honor. In recent years, new forms of remembrance have been developed here. The Maschsee-Nordufer Cemetery of Honor is increasingly recognized as a site of European remembrance. Numerous organizations and individuals are committed to remembrance at the Maschsee North Shore Cemetery of Honor: Since the 1980s, the IG Metall labor union has also supported remembrance efforts. Members of the IG Metall Youth enrich the commemorative events on Anti-War Day with their reflections and contributions. The St. Ursula School and the Bertha von Suttner School have taken on sponsorships for the memorial site. Through regular maintenance work, the students contribute to the preservation of the Memorial Cemetery and engage with the history and remembrance of World War II. Thanks to this commitment, numerous projects have been realized in recent years: In 2008 and 2010, two historical and commemorative plaques were erected on-site to educate visitors about the history of the Memorial Cemetery.

Since 2011, the State Capital’s Municipal Remembrance Culture Office, in collaboration with the Maschsee Working Group, has been organizing International Youth Encounters, which take place every two years in early May. For example, in May 2015: “From the Past to the Future—Youth Moves Europe.” Students from Russia, Poland, France, Latvia, and Greece joined young people from Hannover to reflect on the history of the Cemetery of Honor and on forms of a shared European culture of remembrance. They presented their findings at the commemorative events marking Liberation Day on May 8.

© LHH

On May 8, 2012, the memorial book for the Cemetery of Honor was presented to the public. On behalf of the City’s Office of Remembrance, an extensive name search identified over 160 of the 386 people buried at the Cemetery of Honor. These names were included in the book according to the principle “One page, one name, one fate,” and the book is on permanent display in the grotto in the New City Hall. The grotto serves as a space for remembrance and reflection, as well as a place of information through an exhibition.

After decades of being pushed aside, these names have found their place: at the heart of urban life.