After passing through the Linden Avenue-lined New Way, our gaze is directed through tall black pines across a long stretch of lawn to the statue of the Crucified. Few are aware that beneath this figure of Christ lies the final resting place of the sculptor Hugo Berwald. Hugo Berwald was born on February 10, 1863, in Schwerin. His father ran a glassworks in what is now Puschkinstraße 24 and was also a purveyor of mirrors of all kinds. The putty used in his father's workshop, always abundantly available, attracted young Berwald due to its malleability, and he was magically drawn to shaping figurative models from it.

With great skill, he soon began sculpting busts of family members and teachers. His extraordinary talent and manual dexterity left no doubt about his future profession. The boy had to become a sculptor. Thus, after leaving school, he embarked on a three-year study at the Berlin Academy of Art. His teachers, Albert Wolf and Friedrich Schaper, both from the tradition of the Berlin Rauch School, guided his artistic development so that his later work was characterized by formal perfection and simple grandeur. From 1890 to 1892, Berwald stayed in Rome, where he refined his skills under the guidance of his father-in-law, the sculptor Joseph von Kopf. Particularly through the study of ancient forms of expression, combined with his already existing technical mastery of materials such as wood, metal, granite, or marble, he was able to create a large number of unique masterpieces. After his time in Rome, Berwald set up a studio in Berlin. Despite this, his connection to the Schwerin court remained strong, and when the artist's marble statue of Grand Duchess Alexandrine was erected in the Grünhaus Garden in 1907, Berwald was appointed professor. Among the other works of his extensive oeuvre, some of which are publicly accessible in Schwerin, is the fountain "Rescue from Shipwreck" in front of the railway station. On the grounds of the psychiatric clinic, we find the Basedow statue mentioned elsewhere, and in front of the Fridericianum Gymnasium by Lake Pfaffenteich, the Schliemann bust. The Christ on the Cross in the cemetery on Obotritenring was originally intended for Berwald's wife's grave in Rothenfelde but was then relocated here after the expansion of this cemetery. When the competition for the creation of the Fritz Reuter Monument in Stavenhagen was announced, Hugo Berwald also participated. His design was shortlisted among the eight submissions. However, the decision was ultimately made in favor of Wilhelm Wandschneider. In 1927, Berwald returned to Schwerin, where he lived in seclusion without contact with colleagues. Weakened by prolonged illness, he died on February 14, 1937, and was buried in the Old Cemetery. When the cemetery was expanded, his remains were reinterred on November 18, 1937, and since then, the Christ on the Cross has marked the final resting place of its creator.