The treasures of the church district are above all the employees who work full-time and on a voluntary basis. In order to introduce them, we have conducted interviews with them. Here Mrs. Berwig-Holtzhauer introduces herself. She is the cemetery administrator in the New Evangelical Church Parish in Wernigerode.

Please describe your office and your tasks in the service of the church. Why did you choose to do this?

I work as a cemetery administrator at the Theobaldi cemetery in Wernigerode.

I did not choose this job quite consciously. I mean that in the sense of training and then working towards the job. It was probably rather a happy coincidence that I am active in this parish and in this area of responsibility. But I haven't regretted it for a second so far.

Please give us an insight into a typical working day. What do you actually do?

My working day starts at 7.00 am. Then we discuss among our colleagues - I have three employees for whom I am responsible - what needs to be done. The routine tasks are fixed, but there are always a few things that come up "quickly".

On average we have a funeral every day.

Together with the relatives, I choose the grave site and organise the preparation of the funeral. Arrangements have to be made with undertakers and stonemasons. In addition, there is the paperwork, i.e. preparing notices of fees, issuing permits, making entries in the various prescribed directories, preparing grave maintenance offers.

The phone rings a lot some days. I answer appointment requests, inquiries about grave sites, advise people who want to arrange their final arrangements, organize grave care and advise on the design of grave sites or just listen when someone wants to get a few words off their chest. In the course of my years of service this has increased.

But I also clean the premises and sometimes close an urn crypt and carry the flowers and arrangements to the gravesite after a funeral service or burial. So not every day is the same and I don't really have a typical working day.

Does your Christianity manifest itself in your private everyday life?

I am a happy and optimistic person because I know I am safe with God.

Do you have a favorite place and anecdote in the church district?

My favorite place was a seat on a bench in front of the first pew row in the Liebfrauenkirche in Wernigerode overlooking the altarpiece. In this painting is the crucifixion scene. All the figures are relatively dark, only Jesus is depicted lighter. And the longer I looked at this painting, the brighter Jesus became. That touched me very much.

Now the picture can be seen in the Sylvestri Church. But it doesn't have that effect on me anymore.

Would you like to tell us something special about your ministry?

I don't see my office as an office but as a task in which I can accompany people in very difficult situations. That is often not easy, and some situations bring me to the limit. But I often get so much gratitude back that I can say: Yes, this is the right place for me.