Morhange German War Cemetery
| graveyard | |
|---|---|
 (Cimetière militaire allemand de Morhange) |
|
| Country: | France |
| Department: | Moselle |
| Place: | Morhange |
| Inauguration: | August 1914 |
The German military cemetery Morhange is a military cemetery in the Lorraine village of Morhange (German name from 1871 to 1918 Mörchingen ). The cemetery is the final resting place for 4754 German soldiers of the First World War , who were buried in 1966 individual and 2 comrade graves.
history
Mörchingen was a German garrison town between 1871 and the end of the First World War in 1918 . Various regiments were supposed to ensure " border protection against France". The regiments that were stationed there at least temporarily included the Infantry Regiment "Graf Barfuß" (4th Westphalian) No. 17 , the 2nd Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 131 and the 5th Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 144 as well as parts of the 4th Lorraine Field Artillery Regiment No. 70 and the 2nd Hanoverian Uhlan Regiment No. 14 . In addition, from 1890 Mörchingen was the seat of the staff of the 65th Infantry Brigade of the 42nd Division .
First World War
Just a few days after the beginning of the First World War, there were battles between German and French units in the Lorraine border area, for example on August 11, 1914 at the battle near Lagarde , which took place from August 20 to 22, 1914, the Battle of Lorraine (French: "Bataille de Morhange »[called the Battle of Mörchingen]) followed. Thousands of people died in this and other fighting. The dead were usually buried in individual graves (especially officers) and mass graves (for men and unknown soldiers, including the French). These graves were often located directly at the site of the fighting or in nearby cemeteries.
Establishment of the Mörchingen military cemetery
The German garrison had had its own cemetery for its relatives since 1893. This was outside the village in the "Hellenwald" to the east. As early as the end of August 1914, the German military administration laid out the military cemetery on the same site in order to be able to bury those who fell in the skirmishes and battles there. These were exhumed in the surrounding villages and reburied in the Hellenwald. Several hundred German soldiers found their final resting place there by the end of the war. Most of the dead belonged to Bavarian units. Others came from the Prussian provinces of Brandenburg , Hanover , Silesia , Schleswig-Holstein and West Prussia as well as from the Duchy of Braunschweig , the realm of Alsace-Lorraine , Kurhessen , Mecklenburg and Thuringia .
post war period
After the end of the First World War, the French exhumed their dead and buried them in their own military cemeteries. In 1926 an agreement was signed between France and Germany that allowed the large-scale amalgamation of German fallen soldiers from 89 surrounding communities or districts in the cemetery in the Hellenwald. These soldiers were killed in combat operations or died in hospitals . In addition, the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (VDK) planted trees and bushes and greened the cemetery. Furthermore, a wrought iron gate was installed in the new entrance area. Further work on the cemetery, such as B. the permanent marking of the graves with wooden crosses up to then could not be carried out due to lack of money and the Second World War .
Only when the Franco-German War Graves Agreement came into force on July 19, 1966, the VDK was able to continue its work. In 1972 the wooden crosses were replaced by forged steel crosses bearing the names and dates of the deceased. The names of those buried in the comrades' graves are immortalized on metal plaques on the border.
Finally, the entire military cemetery was redesigned according to the requirements of gardening and landscaping , with a large wrought-iron cross being erected.
Today 4,754 soldiers are buried in the Morhange cemetery, 1965 of them in individual graves, one of which has no name. The remains of 2,788 people lie in two mass graves, 72 of whom are unknown. Five graves of Jewish soldiers are marked with a stone stele and inscribed in Hebrew .
The German War Graves Commission is responsible for maintaining the German military cemetery in Morhange.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ List of German military cemeteries in France , VDK document
- ↑ Information on the Graf Barfuß Infantry Regiment (4th Westphalian) No. 17 at GenWiki
- ↑ Information on the 2nd Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 131 at GenWiki
- ↑ Information on the 5th Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 144 at GenWiki
- ↑ Information on the 4th Lorraine Field Artillery Regiment No. 70 at GenWiki
- ↑ Information on the 2nd Hanoverian Uhlan Regiment No. 14 at GenWiki
- ^ Entry "Mörchingen" in Meyers Konversations-Lexikon , Volume 14, 6th edition, Leipzig 1908, pp. 135-136.
- ^ Jacques Didier: Lorraine 1914. Guide des lieux de mémoire. Morhange. La Grande Couronné de Nancy. Ysec éditions, Louviers 2004, ISBN 2-84673-042-3 , p. 78.
- ↑ Information about the Battle of Lorraine in English
- ^ Exchange of notes on the commissioning of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge to maintain war graves in France
Web links
- Website on the Morhange military cemetery at the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge
- Cimetière militaire du Hellenwald , French website
- Photo from the cemetery , French site
- List of names of those buried there on weltkriegsopfer.de
- Photos from the cemetery on weltkriegsopfer.de
Coordinates: 48 ° 56 ′ 31.8 " N , 6 ° 39 ′ 50.2" E