Thursday, 17 June 2021
Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Caroline Christine Walter
Caroline Christine Walter died of tuberculosis aged 17 in 1867 and was buried in the Old Cemetery in Freiburg. Her sister Selma commissioned a sculptor to carve a gravestone in her likeness. Caroline is depicted as if she fell asleep reading in her own bed. After the flowers from her funeral had wilted, her sister noticed with each visit that fresh flowers were always on the grave. After months and even years, she never learned who was leaving the flowers, which still appear 150 years on. Caroline had never told her sister of a boyfriend and there are a number of theories; a tutor who fell in love with her, a secret girlfriend, even a vampire. After I took these photos, I looked back over my shoulder to see two little girls on bikes looking around to see if they were being watched, then adding a fresh bouquet and pedalling away at speed.