This unique cemetery, located on the edge of the Hoge Kempen National Park in a pine forest, was created to bury patients who died at the Rekem psychiatric hospital. Recently, a unique natural cemetery has also been created there.
Galerie photos
History
Since 1921, the Asprémont-Lynden castle located on Groenplaats in Rekem was used as a psychiatric hospital under the name “Rijkskrankzinnigengesticht.”
Patients who often had no connection with their families were buried in this cemetery. Used between 1921 and 1981, around 1,750 deceased people were buried there.
The cemetery is divided into six plots separated by avenues of Norway spruce trees. To the north are two brick and plaster morgues, currently used as bat shelters. The plots are large lawns or rows of gravestones: mainly simple concrete crosses with a metal plaque bearing the name and date of birth and death of the deceased.
The first natural cemetery in Flanders
Since 2018, the cemetery has been expanded to include a natural cemetery.
A natural cemetery is an area in nature or the forest where the ashes of a deceased person are laid to rest. This is done in biodegradable urns without any identification or commemorative marking
