Catholic blessings and memorial services at Munich's cemeteries on All Saints' Day

The Catholic Church will once again bless the graves at Munich's cemeteries on All Saints' Day, 1 November. Services, remembrance ceremonies and memorial music are planned at cemeteries across the south, west, north and east of the city.

The city's municipal cemeteries will be open from 8am to 7pm on All Saints' Day. Staff at the local cemetery offices will be available to help visitors with questions and requests from 8am to 4pm. Because large numbers of visitors are expected, bicycles will not be allowed on cemetery grounds that day.

At most cemeteries, the Catholic remembrance service and blessing of the cemetery will take place in the early to mid-afternoon, usually between 2pm and 3pm, often in the funeral hall. At the Alter Südlicher Friedhof, the blessing at 3pm will be followed at 3.30pm by a memorial serenade from the Münchner Petersturmmusik in the Alte Arkaden passageway. The blessing begins at 2.30pm at the Westfriedhof and the Nordfriedhof, at 3pm at the Ostfriedhof and at 1pm at the Friedhof Freimann. Several cemeteries will also hold morning services in nearby parish churches and performances by brass ensembles.

A number of special commemorations are also planned. At 4pm, the Nordfriedhof will hold an hour of remembrance for the victims of the bombing of Munich at the memorial grove for air raid victims. In the new section of the Waldfriedhof, a Mass in Italian will be held at 10.30am, followed at 11.30am by a ceremony for fallen Italian soldiers at the memorial of the Italian Military Cemetery. In the old section of the Waldfriedhof, the Tscherwenka hometown association will hold a commemoration at 11am at plot 241-W-8, reached via the Lorettoplatz entrance.

At the Ostfriedhof, a memorial ceremony will take place at 11am at the monument to the Royal Bavarian Infantry Life Regiment in plot 106a. At the Friedhof am Perlacher Forst, prayers of intercession will be said at 2.45pm at the grave of the Blessed Martyrs of Dachau, with participants meeting at Ehrenhain I.

The feast of All Saints has been celebrated on 1 November since the 9th century. It was dedicated in particular to saints who have no feast day of their own in the church year. Since then, saints, martyrs and all of the dead have been honoured on this day, with a dignified remembrance of the dead at its heart.