Dorotheenstadt Cemetery: the Graves of Brecht, Hegel and Fichte

Updated on October 5, 2026

Dorotheenstadt Cemetery (Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof), at Chausseestraße 126 in Mitte, is Berlin's cemetery of writers and thinkers. Founded in 1762 and enlarged several times until 1826, it holds the graves of the philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Johann Gottlieb Fichte, the writers Bertolt Brecht, Heinrich Mann and Anna Seghers, the architects Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Friedrich August Stüler, and former Federal President Johannes Rau. Entry is free. The cemetery opens every day at 8:00 and closes between 16:00 (December and January) and 20:00 (May to August). Allow an hour for a quiet stroll, more if you want to find every grave.

Highlights

The graves of Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel

Two rough stone blocks, with no ornament, carry only the names of the playwright and his wife, the actress Helene Weigel, in front of a brick wall. Brecht lived in the neighbouring building, now the Brecht-Weigel-Haus, which you can visit with an exhibition on the couple. Visitors often leave flowers or small notes.

Hegel and Fichte

The stele of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who died in Berlin on 14 November 1831, stands in the old part of the cemetery; Fichte's grave is very close. Both philosophers taught at the University of Berlin, a few minutes from here. Look also for the graves of Schinkel and Stüler, the architects of Museum Island.

The twentieth-century writers

Heinrich Mann, Anna Seghers, Johannes R. Becher and Arnold Zweig also rest here: after 1945 the cemetery remained the burial place of many East Berlin intellectuals. A plan at the entrance and the signs in the cemetery help you find the graves.

The French cemetery

A separate cemetery attached to the same site holds neoclassical tombs of Berlin's Huguenot community.

The James Turrell chapel

The 1928 funeral chapel, renovated until 2015, houses a permanent light installation by the American artist James Turrell. It can only be seen on guided tours, offered according to visitBerlin on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; check the dates and prices with the parish before you come.

Practical info

Tips

The cemetery is a place of quiet reflection: speak softly, do not walk on the graves and do not touch the stones (hours checked in October 2026 on berlin.de and visitberlin.de). Not every famous grave is signposted in the same place: use the plan displayed at the entrance. The visit combines well with the Natural History Museum, 300 metres away, and with the Berlin Wall Memorial, a little further north on Bernauer Straße.

How to get there

Chausseestraße 126, 10115 Berlin. U-Bahn U6, Naturkundemuseum station (about 300 metres). S-Bahn S1, S2, S25 and S26, Nordbahnhof station (about 400 metres). See our guide to public transport in Berlin.

Opening hours

Best: Weekdays, late morning

Every day, 08:00-20:00 from May to August; 08:00-19:00 in April and September; 08:00-18:00 in March and October; 08:00-17:00 in February and November; 08:00-16:00 in December and January