Established in 1792 in the then-village of Wola, which is currently a city district. During the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794 and during World War II, intense fighting took place at the cemetery. Worth seeing is the neoclassical Halpert family Chapel (build in 1835), which serves the Lutheran community. The chapel was rebuilt in 1975, however, many tombstones are still destroyed or in poor condition. As in the Roman Catholic Powązki Cemetery, a committee for the restoration of the cemetery has been set up, and collects money on All Saint's Day for the treasures of the burial ground to be returned to their former glory.
More than 100,000 people have been buried at the cemetery since its inception. Among them are the author of the Polish language dictionary, Samuel Bogumił Linde, painter Wojciech Gerson, Emil Wedel, entrepreneur and founder of Poland’s most famous chocolate brand Wedel, and founder of the Warsaw Botanical Garden, Michał Szubert.