Old cemetery gets new life

The provost of Central Greenland, Maannguaq Dalager, was the Greenlandic priest in Denmark from 2021 to 2025, where she presided over funerals at the Greenlandic section of Vestre Kirkegård in Copenhagen.

– Many Greenlanders living in Denmark are buried in their own parish close to their family. Others want to be buried in the historic cemetery in Copenhagen, where the first Greenlander was buried in 1948, says Maannguaq Dalager to Sermitsiaq.

– Why do some people choose to be buried in this particular cemetery?

– I think it means a lot to the deceased and to the family that the funeral takes place in this small piece of Greenland in Denmark.

On Sunday, Maannguaq Dalager will return to the cemetery, which has undergone a much-needed beautification worth 1.3 million kroner. The money comes from the A. P. Møller Foundation and the Treasury. Member of Parliament Aaja Chemnitz negotiated an appropriation in the Danish Finance Act for 2022. The money was used for Greenlandic hymnals in Danish churches and an upgrade of the Greenlandic section at the Vestre Cemetery.

The cemetery is under the Provost of Central Greenland, which pays the Municipality of Copenhagen for operation and maintenance.

A place for remembrance and contemplation

The Greenlandic section consists of two parts: The old section from 1952 with a stone monument, created by the artist Jan Buhl. The new section from the 1970s with the sculpture "Qanilaarneq", created in 2018 by the artist Bolatta Silis-Høegh with stones from each of the four municipalities at the time.

Landscape architect Lone van Deurs is the driving force behind the extensive beautification of the new section. She has worked with cemeteries in Greenland for many years; a work that she described in 2011 in the book "We like to go far for our dead - Cemeteries and landscapes in Greenland".

Landscape gardener David Petersen in Gadstrup carries out the practical work, and he is also responsible for the ongoing maintenance.

- As a typical element of a Greenlandic cemetery, we have installed a sky gate that connects the new and old section, Lone van Deurs tells Sermitsiaq.

The sky gate was made by ship carpenter Peter Klint, who is the son of garden architect Morten Klint, who designed the construction plan for the old section from 1952. A brass sign will be placed on the sky gate, telling about the materials and sponsors behind the beautification.

The mining company Lumina, which mines the mineral anorthosite close to Kangerlussuaq, is contributing, together with the shipping company Royal Arctic Line, a ton-heavy row of white stones, all of different sizes and shapes, which surround the new section.

“The stone setting makes the section appear as a place suitable for remembrance and contemplation,” says Lone van Deurs.

The Vegtech nursery in Dragør planted a number of Arctic species between the anorthosite stones in September, including thyme, saxifrage and hawkweed, which appear to survive the Danish winter.

– The planting could be the start of a beautiful tradition, where travellers from Greenland to Denmark take plant seeds with them in their pockets, which are sown at the cemetery, hopes Lone van Deurs.

A long line of Greenlanders and Danes with connections to Greenland have found their final resting place at the cemetery. A request for burial at the Greenland section is directed to the Central Greenland provsti in Nuuk.