German war dead

[sigma]

Does Germany have any war grave cemeteries in France and Belgium and do they have a day to remember their fallen soldiers of the First World War.

[beejay1124]

on a recent tour of the WW 1 battlefields in Northern france , we visited a German military cemetery-Neuville-St Vaast

[beejay1124]

here we are
http://www.tpyf.com/server/show/ConGalleryColl ection.6/chapterId/65/viewPage/3

[heathfield]

Cemeteries
There is no German equivalent of Armistice Day; in fact the 11th November is the start of the German Carnival Season! German dead are remembered by the Catholic church on All Souls Day (on 2nd November, or on 3rd November if the 2nd is a Sunday). The Lutheran church equivalent is ''Eternity Day'' (Ewigkeitssonntag or Totensonntag) on the last Sunday before Advent Sunday. (23rd November in 2008).

[Whickerman]

Some of the German war graves in northern France are huge. They are kept up by a charity as opposed to a war graves commission type thing. They're easy to spot - they generally use a red/teracotta cross with the names of the 3-6 soldiers that they represent marked on them. I doubt they mark actual graves for this reason, more likely there are mass graves.

[Whickerman]

I agree - all of the war graveyards, regardless of side, are stark reminders of the human toll of war

Here's a photo of the La Cambe Greman war graveyard in Normandy
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/98/234227835_53 17989b9d.jpg?v=1214994943

[shaneystar2]

They certainly do have a day .It's called Volkstrauertag and is a public holiday .It's always two Sundays before the first Advent .
It was first held in 1922 in the Reichtag .
After a lot of various other sorts of things between the wars Heldengedenktag etc it was declared an official day in 1952.
Different states and religions have different ceremonies Totensonntag for example but there is always an official ceremony held at the Bundestag and everyone has a day off ! .

[123everton]

I've nothing to add from the above except that did you know that the German (Axis too?) troops who died in Stalingrad are still unburied and currently languish in a barn, in a field somewhere in Russia?
The Russians won't have them and at the last time of looking (some time ago it's true) won't let them go either.

[Tewart]

You might want to check out this link:

http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/99/05/Stalingrad14 0599.html

Apparently they have now been buried, according to this article from 1999.