The Melaten Cemetery is an open history book that makes the 19th century understanding of roles and the role of women as mourners visible. The walk leads, among other things, to Laura von Oelbermann, whose wealth was proverbial in Cologne, to the “second female museum director in Germany” and to the monastery woman who successfully marketed her famous lemon balm spirit. The cemetery’s former function as an infirmary for lepers and changes in the current burial culture are also discussed.