--- title: First Lesbian Only Cemetery Opening In Berlin, Germany description: So that the 'lesbian community can live together in the afterlife' canonical: https://time.com/47151/first-lesbian-only-cemetery/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-02T18:55:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:26.466Z og:title: World's First Lesbian-Only Cemetery Opening In Germany og:description: So that the 'lesbian community can live together in the afterlife' og:url: https://time.com/47151/first-lesbian-only-cemetery/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5d7af4c4163a745/6986888755a859bc7ea800f6/467466783.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Cemetery og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: World's First Lesbian-Only Cemetery Opening In Germany twitter:description: So that the 'lesbian community can live together in the afterlife' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5d7af4c4163a745/6986888755a859bc7ea800f6/467466783.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # World's First Lesbian-Only Cemetery Opening In Germany by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Apr 2, 2014 6:55 PM UTC  Graveyard, Portland, Dorset Graveyard, Portland, DorsetGetty Images by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Apr 2, 2014 6:55 PM UTC A new burial area reserved for lesbians is opening this weekend in Berlin. Basically, a 400-square-meter section of the existing Lutheran Georgen Parochial cemetery will be set aside for gay women, with space for up to 80, the Associated Press [reports](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/lesbian-cemetery-inaugurated-berlin-23140615). The Safia association, a national group primarily for elderly lesbians, said it created this space as a place “where life and death connect, distinctive forms of cemetery culture can develop and where the lesbian community can live together in the afterlife.” The group has promised to clean up, landscape and maintain the area in return for free use of the space. Dr. Astrid Osterland, a member of Safia, [told ](http://www.thelocal.de/20140402/germanys-first-lesbian-cemetery-opens-in-berlin)German newspaper _The Local_ that this effort has “absolutely nothing against men” and that _technically_, there are no rules prohibiting men (or heterosexual women) from selecting plots in the lesbian section. But, since the whole point is to preserve the bonds of the lesbian community, we assume they really only want lesbians. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/47151/first-lesbian-only-cemetery/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/47151/first-lesbian-only-cemetery/"},"headline":"World's First Lesbian-Only Cemetery Opening In Germany","datePublished":"2014-04-02T18:55:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:26.466Z","description":"So that the 'lesbian community can live together in the afterlife'","url":"https://time.com/47151/first-lesbian-only-cemetery/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Germany","World","Berlin"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5d7af4c4163a745/6986888755a859bc7ea800f6/467466783.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5d7af4c4163a745/6986888755a859bc7ea800f6/467466783.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cemetery","caption":"Cemetery","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/47151/first-lesbian-only-cemetery/","name":"World's First Lesbian-Only Cemetery Opening In Germany"}}]}] ```