Post by Graveyardbride on May 12, 2015 5:50:50 GMT -5
The Flowers on Caroline’s Grave
More than 50,000 flowers have been placed on the grave of a 16-year-old girl who died almost 1867 in Freiburg, Germany. Who places them there? No one knows. But every morning, under summer’s sun and winter’s snow, a fresh flower appears on the grave of Caroline Christine Walter.
Caroline and her beloved older sister Selma moved to Freiburg to live with their grandmother after their parents died. Caroline attended a school for young ladies and by the time she reached age 16, she already had a number of admirers. When Selma married, Caroline happily went to live with her sister and brother-in-law. In the early summer of 1867, just before she turned 17, it was discovered that Caroline was suffering from consumption (tuberculosis) and she died a few weeks later.
Selma wanted to create a lasting memorial to her beloved sister and hired a sculptor to produce a sculpture in Caroline’s likeness. The life-size and life-like sculpture depicts Caroline as though she had just fallen asleep reading in her bed – as she had so often done in life. The grave is against one of the outer walls of Alter Friedhof Cemetery, which was already 200-years-old at the time of Caroline’s death. It was a peaceful setting, made more peaceful still by the grave of the beautiful sleeping girl.
It was soon after Caroline died and the flowers on her grave were wilting that Selma, who visited the cemetery often, noticed there was always a fresh bloom on her sister’s grave. Months turned into years and the flowers continued to appear. Groundskeepers said they had no idea who was leaving the flowers.
Caroline had never mentioned any young man in particular, but there was a rumor that the flowers were placed on the young woman’s grave by a tutor who had fallen in love with her and mourned her for the remainder of his life. But it has now been almost 150 years since Caroline Walter’s death and someone is still adorning her grave with flowers. Did her mystery lover leave instructions for future generations to carry on the tradition?
Today, very little sunlight filters through the trees, tendrils of moss creep across the darkened stone form of the sleeping girl, but every morning, there is a fresh flower on Caroline’s grave.
Sources: MySendOff and Find-a-Grave.