Description of the attraction
The Lutheran cemetery in Polotsk was founded, presumably, in the 18th century. The oldest surviving burial site is the Sterngros monument dating back to 1796.
The Lutheran cemetery was founded next to the Orthodox one, adjoining it closely. Unlike the Orthodox cemetery in Polotsk, the Lutheran one is well planned and well maintained. It is noticeable that all the graves are looked after here and monuments and gravestones are regularly updated.
Famous Polotsk citizens of German origin are buried here: the descendants of Baron Pfeilizer-Franco, representatives of the Rulkovius-Walter clan. There are also Latvian graves. The graves of the brothers Janis, Valdemar and Karlis Baladitsav have survived.
The well-preserved chapel-burial vault of the 19th century is located here.
Among the Lutheran graves, Orthodox crosses are rarely found. For what reason the Orthodox were buried in the cemetery is unknown. The grave of Dr. Stepan Efimovich Pavlovsky and his mother Daria Antonovna has been preserved.
A monument that leaves no one indifferent is the grave of an ordinary nurse of the 849th Infantry Regiment (303rd Infantry Division, 60th Army) Zinaida Tusnolobova. In just 8 months of the war, this heroic woman saved 128 wounded, carrying them from the battlefields under fascist bullets. In February 1943, near Kursk, she was wounded and had frostbite on her limbs. Doctors saved her life, but amputated her arms and legs. For her unparalleled heroism, Zinaida Tusnolobova was awarded the Star of the Hero, the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. There are always fresh flowers on Tusnolobova's grave.
