Marc Thompson Posted 20 June , 2003 Share Posted 20 June , 2003 A further photo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Thompson Posted 20 June , 2003 Share Posted 20 June , 2003 It was a moving ceremony indeed, especially when a bugler played the "Ich hatt'ein Kameraden". Last one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Missinne Posted 21 June , 2003 Share Posted 21 June , 2003 Some information about the history of the German military cemetery Langemark and the 'Kameradengrab': At the end of the war, many German graves lay scattered in the villages around Ypres. After the war all these graves were assembled on 184 German cemeteries. The greatest number of dead lay in the Ypres salient. Langemark territory alone, counted 17 German burial grounds: one was " Nr 123", also named "Langemark North". In 1914 this cemetery had its origin in a British cemetery. Between the gas attack of 22 April 1915 and the summer of 1917 this burial ground lay in the German sector. About a half year later ( April 1918) the Germans occupied Langemark. During the war the number of people buried increased dramatically so that in 1919 there were German, French, British and Belgian graves for a total of 859, 627 of which were German. In the first years after the war the Belgian Wargraves Commission was responsible for the organisation. Later the German Wargraves Commission took over. The cemetery was extended on the presently lower part. Eventually the place had 10143 individual graves : 6313 of them had been identified, almost 4000 remained unknown. Among these dead are also 3000 volunteers who were killed during the German siege of Langemark in autumn 1914. Because of the great numbert of student volunteers, they named the cemetery " Studentenfriedhof". In 1952 the Belgian and German governments decided to centralise all German cemeteries: 4 German cemeteries would be left at Vladslo, Hooglede, Menen and Langemark. The Poppies' Field became a burial ground On the high "poppies' field" 9257 identified soldiers were buried. On their graves came an oak log with a copper plate mentioning first names and surnames of two soldiers. The first interments started in January 1955 when the cemeteries of Langemark, Moorslede, Passendale, Poelkapelle, Staden, Westrozebeke, Zillebeke en Zonnebeke were closed. The Comrades' Grave (1956-1958) Because the Langemark cemetery could house the greatest number of graves, they decided to bury all unknown German soldiers in a comrades' grave Behind the then dividing-wall 366 graves were cleared to make room for a gigantic tomb in which 25000 bodies were interred. The number of soldiers buried exceeded 44,000 10143 of soldiers (identified or non-identified) from the original burial ground 9257 soldiers (identified) on the former poppies field nearly 25000 in the comrades' grave More info on The Great War in Flanders Fields Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 21 June , 2003 Share Posted 21 June , 2003 Robert, Just a few details: Langemark Nord and Ehrenfriedhof Nr. 123 were the same, every German war cemetery got a number in the 1920's. "In the first years after the war the Belgian Wargraves Commission was responsible for the organisation." As they did with all other German cemteries, they did in fact nothing. It was not until 1925, when an official German service became responsible, that the reorganisation of the German cemeteries began. A few of these cemeteries were given to the Volksbund deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge to take care for (Langemark Nord, De Ruyter and Broodseinde 103 IIRC). From the 1950's on the Volksbund was officially responsible for all German war graves. Also have in mind that Menen is the largest German WW1 cemetery in Flanders. Regards, Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Missinne Posted 21 June , 2003 Share Posted 21 June , 2003 Thanks Jan. You are right. Wrong translation from my original text in Dutch: De Duitse militaire begraafplaats van Langemark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 21 June , 2003 Share Posted 21 June , 2003 Also have in mind that Menen is the largest German WW1 cemetery in Flanders. ...and the world! (both wars). This is going off number of burials, not area. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 9 July , 2003 Share Posted 9 July , 2003 Also have in mind that Menen is the largest German WW1 cemetery in Flanders. ...and the world! (both wars). This is going off number of burials, not area. Dave. ...but not for much longer! I believe that the Kriegsgraberfursorge are concentrating German (WW2) graves at the cemetery at Solugubowka - St Petersburg in Russia. This will contain (approx.) 80,000 graves! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garde Grenadier Posted 9 July , 2003 Share Posted 9 July , 2003 Just a few details: Langemark Nord and Ehrenfriedhof Nr. 123 were the same, every German war cemetery got a number in the 1920's. Hello Jan, have you got a (complete) list of all German war cemeteries and their numbers of the 1920's - I'd be most interested! Thanks Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 9 July , 2003 Share Posted 9 July , 2003 Hello, I am working on a list for Belgium, which is already complicated enough for me. I don't know anything about France or all the other countries. If you have any question about German cemeteries/burials etc, let me know, I have very good contacts to the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge and I have quite a few books and magazines about the German war cemeteries. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now