The cemetery is one of the oldest city cemeteries in Thuringia still in use today.

In addition to architecture, landscaping and culture, there are historical gravestones with interesting and unusual personalities. Burials have been taking place in the cemetery since June 6, 1529, and today it covers an area of around 15 hectares. 

Numerous historical gravestones from different stylistic periods bear witness to the burial culture of the past and the former prosperity of the royal seat of Altenburg. In addition to the Gottesackerkirche church, which was consecrated in 1650, and the cemetery chapel, which was completed in 1897, the old mortuaries can be viewed on a guided tour.

The cemetery is the final resting place of numerous famous people, some of whom are known beyond the city limits. Some of these graves are still preserved. The graves of the antiquities researcher Prof. Ernst Amende, the museum founder Bernhard von Lindenau, the builder of the Bismarck Tower Alfred Wanckel, the painter Ernst-Müller-Gräfe and many more are on display.

The cemetery is still a place of mourning and silent remembrance, but also a place of architecture, landscaping, culture and history, which can be experienced here at first hand.

During the guided tours of the cemetery, visitors are shown 29.04., 27.05., 24.06., 29.07., 26.08., 30.09. and 28.10.2023 The cemetery shows a completely different side to its burial grounds. In addition to a wealth of historical information, visitors are given the opportunity to view the otherwise closed rooms of the church and the cemetery chapel with the old mortuaries from the inside.

The cemetery guide Andreas Stabrey, who knows numerous stories, the graves and the myths surrounding his personalities, starts with the Discovery tours each at 2 pm for around two hours. The Tickets at a price of four euros per person are available (subject to availability) up to one hour before the tour at the Altenburger Land Tourist Information Office, Markt 10 in Altenburg. The meeting point is at the main entrance to the former church cemetery at the cemetery chapel.