Langemark German Cemetery

[Tom Morgan]

Gien that the mass grave in Langemark German Cemetery wasn't a feature of the cemetery as originally laid out, does anyone know a source for a defintive list of cemeteries where the burials in the mass grave came from?

Tom

[AOK4]

Hello,

I'm sorry to tell you but the mass grave was a feature on the original cemetery (that's why the names of the original mass grave are encarved in wood on the right hand side of the entrance).

A mass grave emphasized the comradeship, in 1914 a lot of mass graves were mixed: german and french.

The unkonown burials in Flanders were mostly concentrated in this original mass grave though...

Greetings from Flanders,

Jan

[Paul Reed]

My understanding was that the mass grave at Langemarck was in fact a huge underground vault - an ossuary similar to Douaumont - which is why it is fairly easy to rebury German soldiers found in Flanders here.

What do other contributers think of this?

[Tom Morgan]

I have read the following this evening:

After the Second World War and following the agreement in 1954 to establish three major German collecting cemeteries for First World War dead, Langemark underwent major redevelopment in the late 1950s:

* groups of basalt-lava crosses were placed in the grounds

* a basalt-lava cross was erected near the old bunker

* the Kameraden Grab (Comrades Grave) was made for the unidentified dead

*the lifesize bronze statue of four mourning soldiers, by the Munich

sculptor Professor Emil Krieger, was placed at the upper end of it.

Exhumations from Westroosbeke, Passchendaele, Moorslede, Zonnebeke, Poelkapelle and Zillebeke were carried out and reburials at Langemark brought the total number of known dead to over 19,378. All the 'unknown' dead who were removed from all over Flanders at this time were taken to Langemark for reburial; the remains of 24,917 unidentified German soldiers are interred in the Kameraden Grab – a 'Comrades Grave'.

This is given as a translation of information provided by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge. If it is a correct translation, then the German War-Graves people seem to be saying that the mass grave was not part of the cemetery until the late 1950s.

[AOK4]

I'm doing research on the German cemeteries and I can assure you there was a Kameradengrab (mass grave) in 1914-1918 on Langemark that was enlarged around 1954-56 with unidentified dead from all over Flanders.

Jan

[Tom Morgan]

I'm doing research on the German cemeteries and I can assure you there was a Kameradengrab (mass grave) in 1914-1918 on Langemark that was enlarged around 1954-56 with unidentified dead from all over Flanders.

I think we are getting sidetracked here, Jan. I'm not saying that there was no mass grave there originally. The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge appears to be saying that. Personally, I didn't know whether there was an original mass grave or not. I'm perfectly happy to benefit from your local knowledge and research, and accept your assurance that there was. Whether or not there was a mass grave originally isn't the point......

What I am saying is that if you go to Langemark German Cemetery today, you will see a mass grave, and you will be looking at something which was not a feature of the cemetery as originally laid out, because you will be looking at something which is the result of work carried out in the 1950s when, as you say, all the unidentified German dead from all over Flanders were brought to Langemark for re-burial. But that isn't the point either - it was merely an introduction to the point, which is............

I would be very grateful to anyone who can point me towards a record of which cemeteries these 1950s re-burials came from.

[AOK4]

Hello,

In the early 1930's the German cemeteries were concentrated on 99 (I believe) cemeteries. These 99 were concentrated to Langemark in the middle of the 1950's. I do have a list somewhere of all these cemeteries and how much burials were moved to which cemetery.

Jan

[Tom Morgan]

In the early 1930's the German cemeteries were concentrated on 99 (I believe) cemeteries. These 99 were concentrated to Langemark in the middle of the 1950's. I do have a list somewhere of all these cemeteries and how much burials were moved to which cemetery.

Wow! As many as that?

Whatever you do, Jan, don't go to the trouble of typing them out here. I'll email you with a question which you might well be able to answer from memory.

Tom

[AOK4]

Hello Tom,

I found my list and I counted 128 German cemeteries that were concentrated to Vladslo, Langemark and Menen. Not to mention the German cemetery Hooglede, 1105 Germans on British and French cemeteries and the 173 Germans on the originally German, but later British cemetery in Zeebrugge.

Please mail me your question, because I'm not a great typist and typing the list would take me lots of time...

Jan