It is one of the largest and most famous burial sites of the city, known for its park-like design and tombs of notable personalities.

The leaders of the city had not been fond of the idea of one huge main cemetery when the old burial sites became too small.

As the new cemeteries were mostly located in the outskirts of cities rather than in churchyards, and the importance of the church was diminishing, they were relatively profane in character.

To regain some symbolic strength, Grässel used influences from early Christian and Byzantine architecture in his funeral chapels and other buildings on the cemetery.

The themes and ideas from the Munich Waldfriedhof became popular in Germany in the upcoming decades and were used in several similar Waldfriedhöfe (woodland cemeteries) elsewhere.