Gravediggers

The task of the gravedigger was to dig graves for the dead. In rural areas, this duty was often outsourced to impoverished villagers or combined with other roles: sextons, night watchmen, or schoolmasters performed the gravedigging alongside their primary occupation. The office of gravedigger provided only a modest (supplementary) income.

Some well-known gravediggers in Aalten and Bredevoort (incomplete list):

Aalten

Jan Hendrik Raben (1833–1889), factory worker
Gerrit Jan Prinsen (1845–1920), a.o. night watchman and town crier
Herman van Zuilekom (1879–1983), municipal worker *
Arent Jan te Slaa (1870–1935), a.o. night watchman, town crier, postman and waiter
Bernard Gerhardus Bannink (1904–2003), municipal gravedigger *

* They resided in the ‘gravedigger’s cottage’ near the Old General Cemetery.

Bredevoort