A year ago, on July 21, 2022, Uwe Seeler died. The grave of honor of the HSV icon has been freshly revised. Hundreds of visitors are expected on the first anniversary of his death.
Go straight ahead under the big trees of the avenue, past the water tower, and then a small, ornate signpost appears on the left, almost as green as the trees. “Uwe Seeler” is written on it. The path is also described in detail in the Ohlsdorf cemetery app, coordinates O27-37-38.
Lutz Rehkopf, the press spokesman for the largest park cemetery in the world, has come by bike and looks satisfied at the new path to the grave. “The cemetery administration had to create it because the lawn was really flat.”
Estimated 35,000 visitors at the tomb
An exact number of visitors cannot be given for a publicly accessible grave; the cemetery administration estimates that there were around 35,000 visitors last year. Hundreds of fans are expected on the first anniversary of his death.
In the past few days, barriers along the new path and at the grave have deterred potential visitors, but the grave of honor with the simple wooden cross has been completely reworked just in time for the anniversary of his death.
A freshly laid lawn, a new wooden bench with HSV symbols and a kind of cloakroom made from an old cemetery fence have also been added. “The cloakroom should prevent the fans from laying their scarves over the tomb. The scarves can now be hung up in the cloakroom forever,” explains Rehkopf.
Uwe Seeler’s grave in the Ohlsdorf Cemetery.
Secret grave was not an issue
For several years, buses have even been going to Ohlsdorf so that tourists can visit the graves of celebrities on city tours. It is not far from the grave of Uwe Seeler to the resting place of former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt – a coincidence, there are no special areas for celebrities in Ohlsdorf. A secret grave wasn’t an issue and probably wouldn’t have suited the down-to-earth man Seeler, who was never afraid of contact with fans. “If someone snapped at me, I snapped along,” said the honorary captain of the national team once.
Cemetery Management controls the flow of visitors
Especially since a secret grave would hardly have remained secret even in one of the largest cemeteries in the world, Rehkopf knows. “The cemetery management could have turned on its head: the fans would find the grave and claim it for themselves. That’s why we can only support it and control the flow of visitors.” All this in consultation with the Seeler family, who did not want to give any interviews on the first anniversary of his death.
Seeler’s grandson Levin Öztunali was of course asked about his famous grandfather when he returned to HSV a few weeks ago and put it in a nutshell: “For you he was ‘Use Uwe’, for me simply my grandfather. He always had an open ear for me and I loved him very much for that.”
Sylvesterallee at the stadium will probably be renamed
In honor of the greatest HSV player of all time, the Sylvesterallee at the stadium in the Volkspark will most likely be renamed Uwe-Seeler-Allee, the parties in the Altona district are practically in agreement on this. However, an official renaming can only take place after the second anniversary of death. A visit to the stylish grave of honor in Ohlsdorf is possible at any time.
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Sports current | 07/21/2023 | 8:17 a.m
