| Teutonic Cemetery | |
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Italian:Campo Santo dei Teutonici e dei Fiamminghi | |
 The Teutonic Cemetery seen from above, in the courtyard ofCollegio Teutonico. | |
 Interactive map of Teutonic Cemetery | |
| Details | |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 41°54′05.04″N012°27′15.84″E / 41.9014000°N 12.4544000°E /41.9014000; 12.4544000 |
| Find a Grave | Teutonic Cemetery |
TheTeutonic Cemetery (Italian:Campo Santo dei Teutonici e dei Fiamminghi,"Camposanto of the Teutons and the Flemish") is a burial site inRome adjacent toSt. Peter's Basilica. Burial is reserved for members of the Confraternity of Our Lady of the German Cemetery, which owns the cemetery.[1] It is a place of pilgrimage for many German-speaking pilgrims.
The cemetery lies entirely outside the borders ofVatican City. It is anextraterritorial property of the Holy See as designated under theLateran Treaty of 1929.
Located where theCircus of Nero once stood, during the period of theRoman Empire, it was the site of the martyrdom of many of the early Christians of the city. The cemetery chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows marks the spot where St. Peter was killed.[2]
It is reported thatPope Leo III gave the land toCharlemagne in 799 for a hospice, called theSchola Francorum, for German pilgrims. In connection with the hospice was a church dedicated to the Saviour and a graveyard for the burial of the subjects of Charlemagne who died in Rome. Since the fifteenth century the soil of this cemetery has been held to be sacred earth from Jerusalem. This tradition, in connection with the immediate vicinity of the graves of the Apostles and with the memory of the first martyrs under Nero, explains the name ofcampus sanctus, "holy field".[3] The cemetery is owned by the Archconfraternity of Our Lady, formed in 1454 to preserve the grounds.[4]
On 6 May 1527, during theSack of Rome, it was the site of the 'Stand of theSwiss Guard' when the Pope's Swiss Guards held off mutinous German troops long enough forPope Clement VII to escape over thePassetto di Borgo toCastel Sant'Angelo.
There are now two institutes of study and two chapels attached to the cemetery, one being the burial place of the Swiss Guards who fell in defense of the city against the forces of the newKingdom of Italy in 1870. TheCollegio Teutonico del Campo Santo replaced the hospice in 1876 to receive priests belonging to the German Empire or German provinces of Austria, who remained there for two or, at the most, three years pursuing their studies and officiating in the Church of Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici.
The cemetery is reserved for the burial of members of the Santa Maria della Pietà Confraternity, a confraternity originally with membership only for citizens of the Holy Roman Empire, and members of the German colleges and religious houses in Rome.[5]
In February 2015, Willy Herteleer, a homelessFlemish man, was buried in the cemetery with the assistance of Paul Badde, a German journalist and a member of the Archconfraternity,[2] after approval byPope Francis and reflecting his maxim that he wanted "a poor church, for the poor".[6]
Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin first wife ofChristian VIII of Denmark was allegedly buried here. Her tomb was opened on 11 July 2019 due to investigations related to thedisappearance of Emanuela Orlandi case, but was found to be empty.[7][8]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Campo Santo de' Tedeschi".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Media related toCampo Santo Teutonico at Wikimedia Commons
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