Star Children

Grave and memorial sites of prematurely deceased children in Schleswig-Holstein

A project of the association Orphaned Parents and Grieving Siblings Schleswig-Holstein

The idea of documenting all of the star children's cemeteries, i.e. gravesites and memorials for children who died prematurely, in Schleswig-Holstein arose in the fall of 2019 as a result of discussions at the 15th anniversary of the Verein Verwaiste Eltern und trauernde Geschwister in Schleswig-Holstein e.V. (Association of Orphaned Parents and Grieving Siblings in Schleswig-Holstein / VESH) on September 1, 2019 in Schleswig. It was known that many cemeteries have smaller or larger facilities for Star Children. Also, the VESH has established its own facility with the "Himmelsbäumen" in Wyk on Föhr in North Frisia, where memorial services are held annually. Most, however, were only aware of the facilities in their own local or regional area. Thus, in several meetings, the idea was developed to send a questionnaire to all cemetery administrations in Schleswig-Holstein in order to record the respective facilities, their initiators, the date of origin and other information.

The response, which was collected at the VESH office in Schleswig, was more than encouraging and unexpected in this high number. In the meantime, more than 70 places can be documented in text and pictures. For this purpose, the VESH has set up its own homepage: www.sternenkinder-friedhof.de. This overview, which not least includes an interactive map of existing facilities, is constantly updated.

This brochure offers – in addition to two introductory texts on the history and present of dealing with early infant death – a selection of the facilities mentioned. They are located in larger and smaller places between Lübeck and Westerland, Flensburg and Itzehoe across the entire state. The documentation is intended to illustrate how broad and imaginative the design spectrum for the star children is, how diverse the designations are. The selection also documents the extent to which mourning and commemoration unfold in the public sphere. The bereaved can mourn and remember together at the Star Children. Often, central memorial events are also held at the individual sites. Thus, the children's funeral memorials are significant evidence that death and mourning have found their place in the midst of the living.

We would like to thank all the cemetery administrators who provided their information and illustrations for this publication as well as for the homepage.

Elke Heinen, Norbert Fischer
Spring 2021