The Northcote German Cemetery was established in 1861 when four local German farmers, August Schwaebesh, Albert Fritsche, Moritz Heiner and Edward Hellwig jointly purchased one acre of land in Northcote to establish a cemetery for the German settlers in the area.
There had been a strong German presence in Northcote during the 1860s, centered on market gardens along Separation Street (also known as German Lane).
Later on the German settlers left the area, mainly moving to Thomastown and Chinese market gardeners replaced them. By 1920 the Northcote Council had taken over management of the small cemetery, which was already close to full. Despite this the occasional burial continued there until the last plot was used in 1971.
Lemon, Andrew. Northcote Side of the River. North Melbourne (Vic): Hargreen, 1983.
Swift, William George. The history of Northcote: From its First Settlement to a City. Northcote (Vic.):Leader Publishing, 1928.
The cemetery is currently maintained by the City of Darebin
