Cimetière militaire américain de Saint-Avold

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Chapel of the military cemetery

The Cimetière militaire américain de Saint-Avold , English Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial , is an American military cemetery in Saint-Avold in eastern France (Lorraine) . With 10,489 graves, it is the largest US war cemetery in Europe during World War II .

Mainly US soldiers are buried there who fell during the advance to the Rhine in 1944/45. The cemetery has an area of ​​46  hectares and is divided into nine symmetrical parts. It was founded in 1945, completed in 1960, and is administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission .

Permanent free use of the site was granted to the United States by the French government .

As in many military cemeteries, the graves vary depending on the soldier's religion: there is the Christian cross and the Star of David, among others .

There is also a lookout tower and a memorial inside the cemetery. 50 years after the end of the war, in the commemorative year 1995, the cemetery attracted an extraordinary number of visitors: around 200,000. .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ American Battle Monuments Commission: Lorraine American Cemetery. (engl.)
  2. ^ Société d'Histoire du Pays Naborien: Le cimetière militaire américain de Saint-Avold. (French)

literature

  • Pascal Flaus: Le cimetière américain de Saint-Avold (= Le Cahier du Pays Naborien Numéro hors-série 2017. ). Éditions des Paraiges, Metz 2017, ISBN 978-2-37535-048-5

Web links

Commons : Cimetière militaire américain de Saint-Avold  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 7 ′ 19 ″  N , 6 ° 43 ′ 3 ″  E