Vladslo German war cemetery is about three kilometres north east of Vladslo, near Diksmuide, Belgium. Established during World War I, the cemetery originally held 3,233 wartime burials.[1] In 1956, burials from many smaller surrounding cemeteries were concentrated in Vladslo, and it now contains the remains of 25,644 soldiers.[1] Each stone bears the name of twenty soldiers, with just their name, rank, and date of death specified.
| Vladslo German war cemetery | |
|---|---|
| German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge) | |
 Crosses at Vladslo | |
| Used for those deceased 1914-1918 | |
| Established | 1956 (Concentration cemetery) |
| Location | 51°04′14″N 2°55′46″E / 51.07056°N 2.92944°E near |
| Total burials | 25,644 |
| Burials by nation | |
| Burials by war | |
| Official name | Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front) |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, vi |
| Designated | 2023 (45th session) |
| Reference no. | 1567-FL02 |
The cemetery is administered by the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge). They also look after the three other German war cemeteries in Belgium: Langemark, Menen and Hooglede.
The Grieving Parents
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The cemetery also contains a pair of statues – The Grieving Parents[2] – by Käthe Kollwitz, a noted German sculptor.[3] She made the statues in the 1930s as a tribute to her youngest son, Peter, who was killed in October 1914 and is buried in the cemetery. The eyes on the father-figure gaze on the stone directly in front of him, on which Kollwitz's son's name is engraved.
References/notes
edit- ^ a b "Web matters". Web matters. 1914-10-23. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
- ^ Sometimes called The Mourning Parents
- ^ Kreissparkasse Köln. "Kollwitz Museum, Cologne, Germany". Kollwitz.de. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
External links
edit- Vladslo German war cemetery at Find a Grave
- Ieper (Ypres) – Belgium. Nearby site: Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof 1914–1918 (German military cemetery), Vladslo.
- German military cemetery Vladslo.
- Ypres: Vladslo German Cemetery.
- (de) Vladslo, on website of Volksbund.
- (nl) Duitse militaire begraafplaats Vladslo (German military cemetery Vladslo), on WO1.be
