Greetings Listers, When in Germany, while walking around a pedestrian only area in the city center, I was told that the cobblestone walkways were made with old granite gravestones cut into squares of about 4 X 4 inches square. They certainly looked like this could be true. Various sections had matching squares but the color changed in areas.... as you might see in different colored grave markers. Does anyone have other information on this...?? Is this a valid use of recycled granite grave markers in Germany/ Europe...?? Thanks, Mary Lynn Axtman

On 30 Nov 2000, at 23:08, [email protected] wrote: > Does anyone have other information on this...?? Is this > a valid use of recycled granite grave markers in Germany/ > Europe...?? I found such use of grave markers all over the place in Poland where they stripped all the previous German cemeteries of their stones and used them for paving stomes. Obviously this mostly in the cities. In the countryside the cemeteries were simply stripped by the locals of anything of salvageable value. Iron crosses, fences and chains made for good scrap metal resales. Even while I was there in 1995 someone had just stripped a WWI memorial which had a big iron chain around it and made off with it. Plaques and such also disappear. Some of the cemeteries I found only appeared because there would be an incongruous little forest in the middle of nowhere. Going there revealed an overgrown jungle where graves had been dug up to search for valuables and everything was just a tumbled mess with trees growing everywhere. One cemetery we only found by following a path of huge trees where a road used to be which led to the place. It was quite a struggle getting through the underbrush but the trees kept guiding us until we finally would up at a stripped chapel and a cemetery looking as described above. Some cast iron markers were still visible and went back the late 30's and early 40's. A local told us about his time in 1945 when he arrived there as a boy. The kids pulled down the stone sarcaphacuses (?) and using the interior oak coffins as boats to ride in on the lake. As adults the people are a little ashamed of their actions but back then anything went. As a historian/genealogist all this only saddens the heart. The family had lived their for 600 years and the last owner was executed by the nazis for being involved with the plot to kill Hitler. One would have thought he deserved some respect but none came forth. His library was still in tact in the 60s when Gomulka ordered any remaining German books and archivalk material either collected or destroyed. The same guy above told me how he and his mother simply burned all the old books out of the estate in the middle of the square in front of the place. 'Right there', he said, 'we burned every thing we could find.' He then shrugged his shoulders and said, 'We were just following orders'. A familiar refrain. Fred 4788 Corian Court Naples, FL 34114 941-775-7838 [email protected] Pelican Lake Motor Coach Resort