A two-century-old cemetery will inaugurate a new burial area designated only for lesbians this weekend in Berlin, the Associated Press reported.
Established in 1814 in the German capital, up to 80 lesbians will have a specially reserved spot in a 400-square-meter (4,300-square-foot) area of the Lutheran Georgen Parochial cemetery, said Usah Zachau, a spokeswoman for the Safia association, a national group primarily for elderly lesbians.
To be inaugurated Sunday, the association said the burial ground had been created as a space "where life and death connect, distinctive forms of cemetery culture can develop and where the lesbian community can live together in the afterlife."
According to the AP, in exchange for cleaning up and landscaping the area, and promising to be responsible for its upkeep, the group was granted 30 years to use the cemetery.
Instead of buying burial grounds directly, Germany requires the plots to have long-term, renewable leases.
"We don't have to pay any rent, but we had to invest a lot of money to turn that part of the cemetery into a usable burial ground again," Zachau said Tuesday.
"The group commissioned a landscaping company to build winding sand paths and has reserved spaces for cremated ashes in urns and for the burial of bodies," the AP reported.
As part of the church's efforts to "revitalize its cemetery grounds by cooperating with other groups," an agreement was made between the church and the women's group, a spokesman for the Berlin Lutheran church said.
"We are also in an ongoing discussion with Muslim groups to see whether they can have their own plots on our cemeteries," said Volker Jastrzembski.
The creation of the cemetery was welcomed by the Lesbian and Gay Associated of Berlin, the AP reported.
"It increases the diversity of opportunities and is a nice opportunity for those lesbian women who want to be buried among other lesbians," said spokesman Joerg Steinert.
