Silent Snow Fall

As temperatures dipped below freezing, Munich saw every type of weather imaginable – snow, hail, rain, and sunshine. I caught this quiet break at the Ostfriedhof or East Cemetery. It really was quite peaceful as the rest of the world rushed to work, school, etc. The cemetery was a nice oasis of calm and beauty. Home to more than 35,000 graves, it has no shortage of celebrities. During the dark period of Nazi-Germany the crematorium disposed of more than 4000 Dachau concentration camp victims. Ironically, in 1946 the remains of 12 German War Criminals executed in Nürnberg (von Ribbentrop, Göhring, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner), were cremated here and their ashes tossed into the River Isar to prevent any kind of grave cult by Neo-Nazis. Like any other German cemetery, the "resting periods" are not eternal, but rather 25-50 years. If no-one contributes to the care of the grave, and pays another "resting-period-fee", the grave is leveled and will be re-used