A cemetery in the middle of the North Hessian forest, initiated by Documenta artists who design their own tombs. So far, nine different works of grave art have been created. Ugo Dossi's "Denk-Ort," for example, is made of massive steel plates. Visitors can transfer the picture elements of the installation onto paper or fabric and take them with them.

Leaves dancing in the wind on sandy paths: the rugged romantic cemetery in the northwestern part of the French capital is at its most beautiful in the fall. Unforgotten and visited by many fans from around the world are the graves of famous artists like Oscar Wilde, Eugene Delacroix, Sarah Bernhardt, Maria Callas, Edith Piaf, Frederic Chopin, Jim Morrison: the list is virtually never-ending.

This cemetery dedicated to German and Flemish speaking people is like an oasis with palm trees, caper and oleander bushes next to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Every inch of the ground in the cemetery as well as the walls are covered with grave stones. Among them you can discover special designed graves with sculptures of angels, or those depicting scenes from the Stations of the Cross.

Greek temples, Egyptian pyramids, and obelisks reaching 20 meters (65 feet) into the sky: the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan lives up to its name. Here is where the rich are buried and that is obvious even after their death. It is regarded as the most magnificent and splendid of all cemeteries in Italy. The 200,000-square meter graveyard was opened 150 years ago in 1866.

Those visiting this cemetery museum in Tyrol are probably seeking some of the cryptic inscriptions in Europe's most most bizarre collection of old, metal grave crosses. Here are some examples: "Here lies Jakob Hosenknopf who fell from his house roof into eternity" or "Here Johanna Vogelsang, who sang her whole life, has found peace." By the way, no one is actually buried here.

This cemetery, which was used as a place of execution in the Middle Ages, today counts some 55,000 graves. Apart from the "promenade of millionaires" with the expensive graves of rich Cologne residents like the Farina family, who invented Eau de Cologne, you can find lovable sculptures, like this clown on the grave of someone with a passion for the local carnival traditions.

Scientists regard this cemetery as unique because of the high number of well-preserved tombstones: of the nearly 9,000 there are still 6,000 stones. It is also the oldest cemetery in northern Europe where both Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews were buried. UNESCO is to vet this 400-year-old burial ground next year as a potential World Heritage Site.

Covering an area of 391 hectares (966 acres), this is the biggest rural cemetery in the world. About two million people discover its impressive mausoleums, ponds, sculptures and funerary museum every year. Since its inauguration in 1877, some 1.4 million funerals have been held here. Among the 235,000 graves are those of former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt and playwright Wolfgang Borchert.

Here all of Austria's famous are gathered, among them the crème de la crème of musicians and composers - apart from Mozart. Beethoven, Brahms, Strauss and Schubert, Arnold Schoenberg and, more recently, Falco and Udo Jürgens are all buried here. The cemetery, which was opened in 1874, has a network of paths between the 330,000 graves that cover a total of 450 kilometers (279 miles).

And here is where Mozart might be buried: in a pauper's grave. Only 17 years after his death on December 5, 1791, did his wife, Constanze, try to locate his grave. As it was not marked she had to rely on the highly sketchy recollections of cemetery workers. It is therefore impossible to say exactly where Mozart was buried.

This cemetery, opened in 1818, is home to the ducal burial chapel of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, who share their burial chamber with Germany's two most famous poets, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller - though the latter's coffin does not actually contain his remains. The cemetery, which is part of the Classical Weimar World Heritage Site, also includes the Russian Orthodox Chapel.