Niersenberg military cemetery (Kamp-Lintfort)

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Niersenberg military cemetery
Cenotaph in front of the cemetery
Memorial to the dead of war
Gravestone for two unknown soldiers

The Niersenberg military cemetery in Kamp-Lintfort is one of the lesser-known war cemeteries on the Lower Rhine. It is somewhat hidden on a wooded hill near the B 510 , not far from the Kamp monastery , on Niersenberger Straße. As a counterpart to the Allied military cemetery, the English military cemetery ( Rheinberg War Cemetery ), it is often simply called the German military cemetery.

place

The approximately seven hectare cemetery of honor was inaugurated on May 16, 1954. Recognized war deaths in 1756 rest on it, mostly soldiers of the former German Wehrmacht and civilians who lost their lives in the last days of the Second World War in bombing raids by the Allies, including fifty women and forty children. There are also seven graves of those who died in the First World War. The dead in the row graves are bedded individually. However, two deceased share a stone cross. The graves are arranged in a circle around the large wooden cross.

There are two stone cenotaphs to commemorate the victims at the cemetery. An eagle watches over a brick pedestal in front of the cemetery. To its claws four stone cubes with oak leaves and knight cross reliefs and four stone tablets set into the ground. One of them is labeled. Inscription on the base plate: “What we created, we created for you. What ever we sacrificed was sacrifice for you Germany ”. The memorial was originally located at the town hall.

In the entrance area, directly behind the cemetery gate, lies a warrior with a sword in a mortuary shirt. On the stone plinth it says: Our dead from the world wars. 1914–1918, 1939–1945 and the wars of 1866 + 1870–1871.

The cemetery is maintained by the municipal service company ASK and the local branch of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge . They receive support from the Sankt-Michael-Schützenbruderschaft Saalhoff, members of the reservists of the Rhein-Ruhr district group and the youth fire brigade.

Every year on the day of national mourning, a commemoration ceremony with wreath-laying takes place around the large wooden cross.

history

The bombing of the Allies on the Lower Rhine and the capture claimed numerous victims. In Kamp-Lintfort alone, the American burial service recovered 600 German dead from the rubble. They were buried in an adjacent field at the municipal cemetery on Rheinberger Strasse. The deceased prisoners of war from the Rheinberg camp were also buried here .

With the reconstruction and the resulting " economic miracle " of the post-war period, the expanding industry and mining claimed the place of the burial site. So a new place had to be found for the war dead. In 1951 the city acquired the Niersenberg and established a cemetery of honor there. It was inaugurated on May 16, 1954.

Both the war dead from Kamp-Lintfort and the surrounding communities in what was then the northern district of Moers found their permanent resting place here. A total of 1,756 deceased were transferred from 29 temporary burial places and community cemeteries. Some of them were simply buried by the roadside or in gardens. These were in Alpen , Birten , Bönninghardt , Borth , Budberg , Büderich , Ginderich , Kamp-Lintfort , Labbecker Wald, Marienbaum , Menzelen , Orsoy , Ossenberg , Veen , Vynen , Wallach and Wardt .

War graves

The war graves recognized in 1756 at the German military cemetery are divided as follows:

First World War
  • 6 Germans
  • 1 Russian
Second World War
  • 1443 Germans
  • 203 unknowns
  • 93 war deaths
  • 110 bomb victims

See also

swell

Commons : Niersenberg military cemetery  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eagle. In: Online project fallen memorials - Kamp-Lintfort, Wesel district, North Rhine-Westphalia. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Dead soldier. In: Online project fallen memorials - Kamp-Lintfort, Wesel district, North Rhine-Westphalia. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Rilana Rücker: "That something like this never happens again". NRZ-Funke Medien NRW, November 5, 2012, accessed on June 4, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Gabi Gies: Kamp-Lintfort works on the history of its districts. NRZ-Funke Medien NRW, May 3, 2017, accessed on June 4, 2018 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 34.6 "  N , 6 ° 31 ′ 36.8"  E