Records are missing many dates

The land for this four-acre burial ground was purchased in 1843 by John F. Kestner, John F. Clauhide, and Fred VonSeggern as trustees for the First German Protestant Cemetery Society of Avondale, which was comprised of 100 stockholders each having as his share a lot 16x16 feet for the use of his family. There were in total 444 lots and a common ground for individual burials. During the cholera epidemic years which began in 1849, the extreme number of cholera victims buried here gave the cemetery a dire reputation, and was referred to as the Cholera Cemetery in Cincinnati. Over the large iron gate entrance at 3632 Reading Road hung a key to the gate. Popular legend in the nineteenth century held that anyone who touched the key would die within a year, also fear about disturbing the ground further where the cholera victims were buried led to this cemetery being closed in 1878 and placed under the care of a trusteeship of seven men. The record books for the cemetery were kept entirely in German and after passing through many stewardships are in the rare book department of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. No grave markers exist at this time, and the entire site has been leveled as the parking lot and ball field of the Hirsch Community Center in Avondale. Details provided by Todd Whitesides (#47553735).





The cemetery is located in the Avondale neighborhood of the city of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, and is # 4545 in "Ohio Cemeteries 1803-2003", compiled by the Ohio Genealogical Society (Avondale Cemetery / German Protestant Cemetery / First German Protestant Cemetery / Cholera Cemetery / German Cemetery ).


The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) feature ID for the cemetery is 1059283 (German Cemetery / First German Protestant Cemetery).