German military cemetery Vladslo

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View through the grieving parents of Käthe Kollwitz over the grave field to the entrance building of the German military cemetery Vladslo

The German Military Cemetery Vladslo is a cemetery of honor in Vladslo , West Flanders Province , Belgium . It is a resting place for 25,645 fallen German soldiers of the First World War . By a ministerial decree of March 18, 1997 it is under monument protection.

location

The park-like facility is located around 20 kilometers south of Ostend on the Diksmuide - Beerst - Torhout road . About five kilometers east of Beerst, a path branches off to the left and after a few hundred meters leads to the German military cemetery.

Collective cemetery

The cemetery was laid out by German troops during the stage from 1917. After the end of the war, 3,233 dead were buried. In 1954 it was agreed to amalgamate the 128 small German military cemeteries in West Flanders that had been scattered throughout the war. Between 1956 and 1958, the German fallen soldiers were therefore brought together in four German military cemeteries in West Flanders, in Langemark , Menen , Hooglede and Vladslo.

layout

Burial place of Vladslo

You enter the resting place through a small entrance building. From there you can see the two-part group of figures Mourning Parents by Käthe Kollwitz . The two figures, arranged parallel to one another, kneel on stone plinths and bear the facial features of Käthe and Karl Kollwitz . The eyes of the male figure are fixed on the grave of his son Peter Kollwitz , to whom the sculpture is dedicated. Originally the group of figures was designed in three parts, with the sculpture representing Peter Kollwitz being positioned in the middle, lengthways, between and in front of the two parent figures.

The two figures made of Belgian granite were first placed on the German military cemetery near Esen-Roggeveld on July 23, 1932 after much resistance and discussions in the presence of the artist and her husband. In 1958, when the fallen were reburied, the group of sculptures was transported to the war cemetery in Vladslo. The work of art is one of the most famous cemetery works of art and is considered the main sculptural work of the artist, which she created within 18 years, 1914 to 1932.

The grave field itself is overgrown with lawn and, with its tall trees, looks like an extensive park. The strict geometry of the row of Belgian granite tombstones is loosened up by a group of sandstone crosses that is sometimes scattered across the surface .

The military cemetery was reopened in 2016 after restoration work.

Buried personalities

International understanding

The cemetery has up to 70,000 visitors annually. In 2007, the siblings André, Gerard and Maria Museeuw were honored who had looked after the cemetery for fifty years.

The song "Vladslo" by the Flemish singer Willem Vermandere refers to this cemetery.

See also

literature

  • Werner Bernhard Sendker: Fallen in Flanders fields. Germans and their relationship to the First World War. 2nd, completely revised and greatly expanded edition. Der Andere Verlag, Tönningen et al. 2005, ISBN 3-89959-366-9 .

Video

Web links

Commons : German Military Cemetery Vladslo  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Website of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge for Vladslo.
  2. ↑ routeyou
  3. ^ Website of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge for Vladslo.
  4. ^ Battlefields in Flanders . In: Central Office for Teaching Media on the Internet e. V., on: zum.de
  5. ↑ Lying dead soldier ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne, on kollwitz.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kollwitz.de
  6. ↑ Silke Ballweg: The life of Käthe Kollwitz . In: Deutschlandfunk, January 30, 2017, on: deutschlandfunk.de
  7. ↑ Ulrich Grober : The short life of Peter Kollwitz. Report of a search for clues . In: Die Zeit , November 22, 1996, on: zeit.de
  8. ^ German military cemetery in Vladslo reopened . In: vrtNWS, on: vrt.be
  9. ^ Daniela Lehmann: Construction site in Belgium. Volksbund renovates Langemark and Vladslo. In: peace. Vol. 91, No. 1, April 2015, ISSN  2196-4734 , p. 19, ( digital version (PDF; 2.26 MB) ).
  10. ↑ Maurice Bonkat, Dorothee Reining: The key to the cemetery. 50 years of the Vladslo war cemetery. In: Voice & Way. Work for peace. Vol. 84, No. 1, 2008, ISSN  0944-2766 , pp. 8–9, ( digital version (PDF; 2.68 MB) ).
  11. ↑ Willem Vermandere: Vladslo , Flemish lyrics and German translation, on: songtext-ubersetzung.com

Coordinates: 51 ° 4 ′ 12 "  N , 2 ° 55 ′ 40"  E