Berlin: What may be Europe's first lesbian-only burial place has opened in a forested Christian Lutheran graveyard in the German capital.

The final resting place will give gay women a place to share in the afterlife, said Astrid Osterland of Safia, an association primarily for elderly lesbians.

Activists listen to the recital of a poem as they attend the opening ceremony of a lesbian-only cemetery in Berlin. Credit:AFP

The burial ground is part of the 200-year-old Georgen Parochial cemetery in Prenzlauer Berg, a district in the east of the once-divided city near Alexanderplatz square.

"The idea emerged four years ago in the lesbian group Safia, whose members, advancing in age, asked themselves where they want to be buried," said Ms Osterland, 69.