Aulenbach's Cemetery Tour Mystery Cache

Welcome to Aulenbach's Cemetery. You will be taking a tour to various stops around the cemetery to collect information needed to solve for the final coordinates.

Aulenbach's Cemetery does not have the artistic sculptures of Forest Hills or the elegantly decorated headstones of Charles Evans, but it does have a lot of history. Along with Charles Evans, it is one of the oldest cemeteries for the city of Reading.

Aulenbach's Cemetery was incorporated in 1853. Prior to that it was the Aulenbach family farm with the first burial being that of Andreas Aulenbach who died in 1849 and asked his son Charles to bury him under the chestnut tree.

The neat thing about this cemetery is there is a clear divide between the older graves and the newer graves. I liked exploring the entire cemetery, but the section with the older graves over the back hill was especially fascinating. There are many Civil War veterans buried here.

Also, there are stories that this cemetery is haunted. There were a lot of things that happened in this area in the past: Hessian prisoner camp, gravity railroad crash, living place of an author who wrote a book about spells and the occult. Here is an article about it: Aulenbach's Cemetery

All of the stops on the tour are things that I found to be the most interesting. While you are here, pay your respects to those who have left us and as always absolutely no night caching.

There are 12 waypoints you will be visiting. The coordinates for the waypoints are listed in the waypoint section. At each stop, you will collect information which will be used to calculate the coordinates to the final cache-a small lock and lock.

Enjoy the tour!

Letter A: Just Passing Thru:

Here at the northeast edge of the cemetery is a headstone of a man who was a second baseman for the Kansas City Athletics. There are two carvings on his headstone. One is a baseball cap and the other is:

Ship (A=0)

Baseball (A=1)

Native American (A=2)

Cross (A=3)

Letter B:Beautiful Landscape

While walking through this section, this headstone jumped out at me. It looks like a beautiful landscape painting. There are some animals depicted.

Which animal is NOT depicted:

Bear (B=6)

Bird (B=5)

Rabbit (B=8)

Cat (B=7)

Letter C: Legion Of Sacred Yoke

Here is a War World II monument. This is the only monument I found in the cemetery. There are names listed around the base.

C=How many names are listed? It will be a 2 digit number. C is the second digit.

Letter D: Caretaker House?

Here in the middle of the cemetery is a little building. I think it is probably the caretaker's house although I could be wrong. There are wooden planter boxes below the windows of the building.

D=The number of planter boxes.

Letter E: Rock Star

Based upon his headstone, this man seemed to have been a rock star. There is a short epitaph about him.

E=He was a husband, father, and _________. E is the number of letters in the missing word.

Letter F: Ancient Clock

An elegant stone vase with an object on the top. The object has six words on it.

F=Number of letters in the fourth word.

Letter G: Let There Be Light

A headstone near the northwest edge of the cemetery for the Wilson family. There is a four word inscription at the bottom.

G=What are they at peace with? G is the number of letters in the word.

Letter H: Family Row

Here in the old section of the cemetery I saw a row of family graves that stood out to me. Find the headstone for William B. There is a picture carving on it.

What is NOT shown on the carving?

Wagon Wheel (H=4)

Musket (H=5)

Cannon (H=6)

Sword (H=7)

Letter I:Those Who Served

I wondered across this little section made up entirely of soldiers. Most were part of the Grand Army of the Republic. Find the stone for Isaac Wagner

I=What division of the PA Calvary was he in? It will be a 2 digit number. I is the second digit.

Letter J: What Would Washington Think?

I have seen lots of obelisks in cemeteries before, but never one quite like this. Find the side with Elam

J=Third digit in the year that Elam was born.

Letter K: Grand Tomb

I would say this is the most impressive tombstone I came across in the cemetery. Find the side for Jonathan and Amanda. There is a quote below their names.

K="Their Good Deeds _______ Them." K is the number of letters in the missing word.

Letter L: Main Entrance

The main entrance to the cemetery. Although nowhere near as grand as Charles Evans, it has its own rustic charm. There are small gates on the left and right of the entrance.

L=The number of gates

Checksums:

North: G+L+C+H+D+A=27

West: I+J+K+F+E+B=36