Neuville-St Vaast German war cemetery

Neuville-St Vaast German War Cemetery
German War Graves Commission
(Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge)

The sea of crosses at Neuville-St. Vaast
Used for those deceased 1914-1918
Established 1919
Location 50°20′32″N 2°45′15″E / 50.34222°N 2.75417°E / 50.34222; 2.75417Coordinates: 50°20′32″N 2°45′15″E / 50.34222°N 2.75417°E / 50.34222; 2.75417
near Neuville-Saint-Vaast, near Arras, France
Total burials 44,833
Burials by nation
Burials by war

The Neuville-St Vaast German War Cemetery is a World War I cemetery located in Neuville-Saint-Vaast, a small village, near Arras, Pas-de-Calais, in northern France. It is the largest German cemetery in France, containing 44,833 burials.

Appearance

The cemetery was established by the French in 1919 as a concentration cemetery for German war casualties from the regions north and east of Arras.[1] It is now administered by the German War Graves Commission, (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge VDK).

There is no central building, but a small chapel and gateway containing directories that lists alphabetically the names of the soldiers interred here, identifies the plot and section where they are buried and provides a map showing the location of all sections of the cemetery. Between 1975 and 1983 the VDK completely reorganized the cemetery and replace deteriorating wooden crosses with metal ones that include name, branch, date of death. Each cross lists four individual names with four soldiers buried to a grave. Old small bunker type fortifications are also found in the cemetery. There are, too, 129 headstones for Jewish soldiers who fell fighting for Imperial Germany.[2] A memorial stone for a Hanoverian regiment was transferred to the cemetery.[3]

Casualties

The bulk of the fatalities occurred during the Battles of Artois in Autumn 1914, Spring 1915 and Autumn 1915; and the Battles of Arras in Autumn 1914, Spring 1917 and Spring 1918.

Other war cemeteries around Neuville-Saint-Vaast

In the region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais there are more than 700 war cemeteries of all participating nations in the world war.[4] Around Neuville-Saint-Vaast these are:[5]

Sources

  1. ↑ World War I Battlefields
  2. ↑ (de) Website Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge: Neuville-St Vaast German war cemetery
  3. ↑ Neuville-Saint-Vaast German Military Cemetery "La Maison Blanche".
  4. ↑ Bernhard Schulz: Kreuze des Krieges. (in English: crosses of war) In: Tagesspiegel of 24. march 2013, p. R 4.
  5. ↑ Photographie Cimetières militaires/62 - Neuville Saint Vaast

External links

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