Ysselsteyn German war cemetery

Ysselsteyn German war cemetery is a First and Second World War military war grave cemetery, located in the village of Ysselsteyn, in the municipality of Venray in Limburg, Netherlands. It is 32 km (20 mi) east of Eindhoven. Ysselsteyn is the largest Second World War German cemetery. It is the only German cemetery in the Netherlands as following the war German soldiers were reburied in the cemetery. The war dead include Germans, Dutch, Poles and Russians who fought on the side of the German military.

Ysselsteyn German war cemetery
German War Graves Commission
Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge.
Cemetery Ysselsteyn
Used for those deceased 1939–1945
Established1946
Location51°28′08″N 5°53′27″E
near 
Venray, Netherlands
Total burials31,598
Burials by nation
Germany and German Hiwis (many Hiwis from Georgia)
Burials by war
World War I (85); World War II (31,513);

World War I and II burials

About 3,000 of the burials are war dead from the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes and Hürtgenwald that were initially interred next to the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten. In a circle near the entrance are 85 German soldiers who fell in World War I and whose bodies ended up in the Netherlands by floating down rivers, mainly the Meuse; the Netherlands remained neutral during the First World War. There are over 5,000 unknown burials in the cemetery, marked as "Ein Deutscher Soldat" (A German Soldier).

Architecture

The cemetery covers approximately 28 hectare or 70 acres. Almost all of the burials are in individual graves marked by a grey concrete cross that includes (where known) name, dates of birth and death and rank. A tall cross stands in the central memorial plaza. The roads extending right and left from the plaza contain a carillon and common graves.

A memorial stone honours Captain Johan Lodewijk Timmermans, a Dutchman who served as manager of the cemetery from 1948 to 1976 on behalf of the Dutch government, and whose ashes were scattered at the cemetery at his request after his death.

Ysselsteyn war cemetery in the Netherlands

Ysselsteyn is the largest German war cemetery in the world.[1] It is the only German war cemetery in the Netherlands as following the end of the Second World War all German fatalities were concentrated there. Since 1976 it has been administered by the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge).

Next to the cemetery is Youth Meeting Centre Ysselsteyn, a youth camp and education centre.

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See also

References
  1. "Ysselsteyn Cemetery". German War Graves Commission. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
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