Ehrenfriedhof Reimsbach 1939 - 1945
War Cemetery, Encyclopedia
of the
War Cemetery
in
Reimsbach
located in the district of Merzig-Wadern, in the federal state of Saarland, Germany
📌 The "Thousand-Year Reich" has left its mark everywhere.
The graves of millions of victims and soldiers of World War II are scattered around the world.
Members for decades had virtually no opportunity to travel to the places where their fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, other relatives, or friends had perished.
✅ As far as we know, this cemetery is our only eternal home on planet earth..
❌ What is it that makes this Cemetery so special?
The answers are hidden within deep in our Ancestral past.
* To find them we must take a journey back into our history,
* to see the collapse of the Weimarer Republic,
* to witness the conference and Treaty of Versailles,
* to dive through humiliation and discrimination,
* to ride torment and bullying of undisciplined Diplomats and Politicians,
* to face the crash of the world economic crises,
* to feel the bitterness of hunger, starvation, and economic disaster,
* and experience the fury of the second world war.
We must travel back in time until we reach the birth of our Ancestors’ challenges.
Then we can piece together our incredible story and discover
❌ and why all of this, that's why we're all here.
© by the Author
| German War Cemetery of the 2WW | |||
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Official Name |
Ehrenfriedhof Reimsbach 1939 - 1945 |
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| also known as: |
Reimsbach Ehrenfriedhof Kriegsgräberstätte, Kriegerfriedhof, Soldatenfriedhof |
| Inauguration: |
from the 95 Infantry Division, German Wehrmacht Wehrmacht |
Year: | spring 1940 |
| Established: |
by the Reichsarbeitsdienst - Reimsbach RAD Lager |
year: | 1940 - 1945 |
| Reburial: | Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge | year: | up to 1956 |
| Cemetery Location: | Forest Cemetery | area: | 6800m² |
| Coordinates: | 49°27'19.2"N 6°45'49.0"E | Elevation: | 270 MASL. |
| Address: | Kriegerfriedhofstraße, 66701 Beckingen OT. Reimsbach | Federal State | Saarland |
| Google map Link: | Country: | Germany |
| Cemetery Area |
| Total No. of Graves: | 314 single grave, each one marked with an iron ✞ | various nations: | 2nd. WW |
| Total from that: | 289 from the total | National | Germans |
| from that: | 1 from the total | National | polish of ethnic german |
| from that: | 7 from the total | National | former Soviet |
| from that: | 17 from the total | National | unknown |
| the first buried: |
✞ 13.May.1940, Monday morning at aproximate 5.30am Private (Gefreiter)
👉 KEHL Reinhold
was the first fallen soldiers of his unit were to be mourned during the battles on the Siegfried Line and was also the first buried here at the War Cemetery in Reimsbach. |
Age: | 28 |
| the last buried: |
✞ 1945,
👉 Friedrichsen Hans
was mortally wounded near Reimsbach, Germany. He is also the last soldier buried here at the War Cemetery in Reimsbach. |
Age: | 22 |
| the youngest: |
✞ 30.Nov.1944, Thursday
👉 Linke Siegfried
was mortally wounded near Nalbach by Dillingen/Saar, Germany. He is also the youngest fallen soldier buried here at the War Cemetery in Reimsbach. |
Age: | 17 |
| the oldest: |
✞ 22.June.1940, Saturday the day of the Armistice which was signed at 18:36 near Compiègne, France,
👉 Weiner Wilhelm
was mortally wounded in Dahlstein/Lothringen France. He is also the oldest fallen soldier buried here at the War Cemetery in Reimsbach during the French campaign. |
Age: | 55+ |
| Forest Cemetery | |
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Reimsbach Grave site Historical Inform: |
On historical ground, not far away from an old Roman road where Roman legionaries, once march into the Germanien territory, here had the 95 Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht established its 1st War Cemetery up high in the pinewood forest. |
| Reimsbach 1939/40: |
1st War Cemetery of the 95th Infantry Division German Wehrmacht: Along the path of the 95th Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht lie the first war cemetery, which was inaugurated after arrival in the spring 1940 by the 95th Infantry Division in Reimsbach an der Saar, a tiny village in the southwestern portion of Germany. Reimsbach is located in the northern part of the federal state of Saarland who is bounded in the north and east by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and in the south and south-west by France and in the west by Luxembourg. The capital is Saarbrücken. |
| Reimsbach 2008: |
During the war, the Reimsbach families took care of the tombs. After the end of the war, the Saarland Ministry of the Interior entrusted the maintenance of the cemetery to the then-independent municipality of Reimsbach. The state government later took the facility back into their care.  |
| Reimsbach 2015: |
The cemetery was given its current structural form in 1950. On a plot of around 6800 m², there is a burial ground and a forecourt, which are spatially separated from each other. |
| Link to: |
Image Gallery 👉 👉 👉 visit - Reimsbach Military Forest Cemetery |
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War diary from the 95 Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht |
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Arrival of the 95th. Inf. Div. German Wehrmacht:: |
At the end of December 1939, the division moved to the Siegfried Line between Merzig, Beckingen, Dillingen and Reimsbach/Saar. The medical services 195 were subordinate to the 95th Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht. The two medical companies San.Kp.1/195 and San.Kp.2/195 including the Field hospital 195 were set up in Wildflecken und Hammelburg on the 19. September 1939.  |
| 278 Infanterie Regiment of the German Wehrmacht: |
War Accident Details from March 20, 1940: An excerpt from the 95th Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht War Diary which described the circumstances under which Lieut. Gottbehüt with his comrades in arms failed to return from the patrol reads as follows: Location of the ambush was 500 meters northwestlich of Zeurange on French soil. Zeurange is a small Lorraine village across the border on French soil just 2.0km southwest of Oberesch a German village in the municipality of Rehlingen-Siersburg, Saarland, Germany. 
On Wednesday, March 20, 1940, at around 1.30 a.m., on a night mission the squadron company led by Lieutenant Gottbehüt with an officer, a sergeant, and 4 men were ambushed by the enemy northwest of Zeurange on French soil. |
| 278 Infanterie Regiment of the German Wehrmacht: |
War Accident Details from May 13, 1940: An excerpt from the 2nd. Kp. Infanterie Regiment 278 War Diary which described the circumstances under which their own attack groups could not rise to the height of 262 and suffered heavy losses: 28 dead and 25 wounded in one day reads as follows: Location of height of 262 is 2 km. west of Niedaltdorf  The 278 Infantry Regiment was set up on September 19, 1939 at the Wildflecken and Hammelburg military training area from personnel units of WW VI and placed under the 95th Infantry Division. At the end of February 1940 the regiment moved to the Beckingen area, where it was again deployed in the front line. From May 10, 1940, the regiment was used for strong reconnaissance troops and to obtain favorable starting positions for an attack on the Maginot Line. On May 13, 1940, the regiment's reinforced 2nd company attacked Höhe 262 in front of its own lines. This was manned like a base by the French. On May 12, 1940, under the cover of darkness, the 11th Company secured the availability of the 2nd Company: 1 group at the bridge over the Remeldorfer Bach, 1 group in the group of trees just south of Remeldorf and 1 group on the eastern slope at height 226.9. At 5.21 a.m., their own heavy weapons opened fire on the enemy positions. After four minutes the enemy fired a green flare. However, this illuminated sign was also the signal for the own artillery to stop fire, which made it almost ineffective. As a result, their own attack groups could not rise to the height of 262 and suffered heavy losses: 28 dead and 25 wounded. |
| 278 Infanterie Regiment of the German Wehrmacht: |
War Accident Details from 14. May 1940: An excerpt from the 2nd. Kp. Infanterie Regiment 278 War Diary which described the circumstances under which their own attack groups could not rise to the height of 340 and suffered heavy losses: 23 dead and 44 wounded in one day reads as follows: Location of the height of 340 is approximately 500 meters north of Heiningen, which is a small Lorraine village across the border on French soil just 1.5km southwest of Ihn a German village in the municipality of Rehlingen-Siersburg, Saarland, Germany.
14. May 1940, Tuesday at dawn 4.10 am the undertaking had started according to plan. |
| Link to: |
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| Burial Ground 1939 - 1945 (1956) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chart A: |
From 1940: Cemetery grave arrangement from row M to row U year for 136 soldiers who were fatally wounded on the western front in 1940:  |
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| Chart B: |
From 1956: Until 1956, the burial to and from the war cemetery in Reimsbach was carried out by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge:
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| Chart C: |
From 1956: At the request of the families of fallen soldiers, the remains of some buried soldiers were sent home for re-burial. The updated list of deaths in the war years from 1939 to 1945 after the burial was completed is shown below.:
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| Chart D: |
From 1956: The cemetery was given its current structural form in 1950. On a plot of around 6800 m², there is a burial ground and a forecourt, which are spatially separated from each other. A sketch of the cemetery grave layout from Row A to Row U year 1956 is shown below:  |
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| Chart E: |
From 1956: Cemetery grave arrangement from row A to row U for 314 soldiers who were fatally wounded on the western front in 1939 to 1945:  |
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| Chart F: |
From 1956: Table 1 below shows the percentage of soldiers buried here between 1939 and 1945. It also tells us that 1941, 1942, and 1943 were calm and there was less war activity on the Western Front:  |
| Memorial Day | |
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| Image - A: |
From 1940, 1965, 2017: Commemoration day at the cemetery of honour in Reimsbach dates back to 1940 when the first ww2 victims were laid to rest. Since this year, a memorial to the victims of the war has been taking place every autumn on the day of national mourning in Reimsbach. The honour guard soldiers and other people are lined up to pay their last respect for their sacrifice.  |
| Link to: |
For more info: 👉 👉 👉 visit - Memorial Day |
| Memorial Plaque | |
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| Memorial Plaque: |
Memorial Plaque - 95th Inf. Div. German Wehrmacht: In memory of our comrades in arms of the 95th Inf. Div. which are buried in the far east. A memorial plaque was placed on a sandstone wall below the high cross at the end of the Reimsbach military cemetery with the epitaph for their brothers in arms in the Far East of the 95th Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht.  |
| Link to: |
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| Monument | |
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| Bronze Statue: |
Cemetery forecourt - Bronze Statue: In the forecourt is a bronze statue by the Saarland sculptor Oswald Hiery from Wallerfangen-Ihn, which was unveiled in 1977 by the then Saarland Minister of the Interior 1977. In a realistic representation, his work shows two men dragging a fatally wounded person as a symbol of the helplessness of people in violent death. The helmet that one of the three naked wears is said to be a classic symbol of war, suggesting struggle and destruction, victory and defeat.  |
| Link to: |
For more info: 👉 👉 👉 visit - Memorial Day |
| Image Gallery | |
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| Image - A: |
From Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter: Traveling throughout any season to new cemeteries is always an adventure without knowing what to expect. The pine forest war cemetery in Reimsbach is like a garden embedded in the forest high above the tiny village of Reimsbach at the end of Kriegerfriedhofstrasse. After the winter Sturm/Orkan, individual maple trees were planted in the cemetery, symbolizing strength and perseverance. It’s also a ritual to visit the cemetery during fall to see that the maple leaves have turned to that crimson color. 
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| Link to: |
For more info: 👉 👉 👉 visit - Image Gallery |
| Footer | |
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| Please Note: |
Very important to know ✅ Please Note - misspelled of names: Many people are missing in the war, which causes fear and insecurity for their families and friends. People have the right to know what happened to their missing relatives. Governments, armed forces, and armed groups have an obligation to provide information and help reunite families. Often one I came across the information that family members found their missing relatives after 60 years and months. As a result of our research, the following results were obtained for the cemetery in Reimsbach: that not all of the victim names buried here were spelled correctly as stated in their birth certificates. In the datasheet of the funeral documents of 1956 as well as the German War Graves Commission or the VDK (2015), they are misspelled or changed for reasons that we still do not know today. |
| Link to: |
For more info: 👉 👉 👉 visit - Row A - U |
| Research Data: |
Research Data: ❌ Our research data come from the original burial datasheet from 1956, as well as information from contemporary witnesses from the village in Reimsbach, from several war diaries of the German Wehrmacht, the US Army, the British Army, the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge eV (VDK) and pictures from 1940, 1965, 2008, 2015, 2018. |
| Link to: |
For more info: 👉 👉 👉 visit - Impressum |
| © |
Copyright Notice: © 2015, 2021 All rights reserved by the author (skr). This material is published by and is the sole property of the 👉 author. No part of this publication shall not be reproduced, translated, or transmitted in any form but not limited to the following: electronically, mechanically, digital, photocopy recording, or any storage and retrieval system or by any means without permission in writing from the author. These include but are not limited to: artistic works (such as graphic design and product design), literary works (such as blog posts and website content), audio, image, and video content, software, and other creative works. Unless otherwise noted all photos (images) published on this website are the sole property of the 👉 author. |
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| External Links | |
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| External Links : |
Volksbund deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (Website) |
| Link to : |
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| Link to: |
👉 Volksbund deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge map - Kriegsgräberstätten Weltweit |
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Privacy Policy - all rights reserved by author: |
