On March 28, 1909 the
South-Western Cemetery officially opened.
Given its size and the vast park/forest-like layout,
the South-Western Cemetery developed into one of the
largest and best known burial sites in Germany already a few decades later.
Several personalities found
their final resting place here, such as, among others,
Heinrich Zille, Rudolf Breitscheid, Lovis Corinth, Edmund Rumpler, Louis Ullstein, and the
Siemens family.
The overall impression is definitely influenced by
the combination of garden
and cemetery art, architecture and sculptures.

Architects and artists such
as Franz Seeck, Alfred Grenander, Max Taut, Hugo Lederer, Hermann Hosaeus and Emil Cauer worked here, to mention but a few.
Apart from 19th and 20th century tombstone art, the mourning chapel in the style
of the Norwegian Stave
churches is the core of the South-Western Cemetery.
Gustav Werner, royal building surveyor, found his inspiration
in Scandinavia and between
1908 and 1911 implemented
the chapel building plans.
The cemetery achieved thus
fame and popularity as a
cultural monument, far beyond the boundaries of Berlin.