The Nordfriedhof ("Northern Cemetery") in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

is the former

military cemetery A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to be ...

of the capital of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, now used as a public cemetery. The Nordfriedhof is in the district of

Albertstadt The Albertstadt is a neighborhood of Dresden, Germany. It was named after Albert of Saxony, who initiated the construction of this suburb. At that time it was the largest garrison in Germany. Today, the Military History Museum of the German Feder ...

and is situated to the north-east of the inner city, near the south-western edge of the

Dresdner Heide The Dresden Heath (german: Dresdner Heide) is a large forest in the city of Dresden, Germany. The heath is the most important recreation area in the city and is also actively forested. Approximately 6,133 hectares of the Dresden Heath are design ...

. Near the cemetery grounds of about 4

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s, accessible via the Marienallee as well as the Kannenhenkelweg, are the Army Officer School and the Cemetery of the Soviet Garrison of Dresden (''Sowjetischer Garnisonfriedhof Dresden''). It was established in 1900 as the "Garrison Cemetery" (''Garnisonfriedhof'') to deal with the fatalities from the nearby military hospital and was subsequently enlarged. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was turned into a civilian cemetery and renamed. Nordfriedhof Dresden 3

History

As a consequence of the Franco-Prussian War the

Saxon Army The Royal Saxon Army (german: Königlich Sächsische Armee) was the military force of the Electorate (1682–1807) and later the Kingdom of Saxony (1807–1918). A regular Saxon army was first established in 1682 and it continued to exist until the ...

was modernised. As part of the reorganisation large barracks were built in the 1870s in the Albertstadt to plans by the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxon ...

Minister of War Fabrice. These included a large military hospital north of the cadet accommodation of the officers' school, now in the grounds of the Albertstadt Barracks. In about 1900

Paul von der Planitz Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, Fabrice's successor at the Ministry of War, proposed the establishment of a military cemetery so that those soldiers who died in the hospital, as well as their dependants and servants, could be buried close by. On 1 October 1901 the Nordfriedhof was formally dedicated, under the name ''Garnisonfriedhof'' ("Garrison Cemetery"). The first burial took place in December of that year. The chapel was dedicated in 1902. Initially the walled cemetery comprised a rectangular area of about one hectare. An extension became necessary in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, for the fallen of which a separate area was opened from 1917, to the east of the old walled area. Plaques of honour, created by Emil Hartmann, were donated and erected here by the regimental associations. Besides more than 2,000 members of the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

prisoners of war were buried here. From 1922 to 1947 a bronze monument by

Max Lange Max Lange (August 7, 1832, Magdeburg – December 8, 1899, Leipzig) was a German chess player and problem composer. Chess career In 1858–64, Lange was an editor of the ''Deutsche Schachzeitung'' (German Chess Newsletter). He was a founder of ...

, of considerable artistic reputation, stood here, representing two soldiers in a fight to the death. It was melted down by order of the

Soviet Military Administration in Germany The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (russian: Советская военная администрация в Германии, СВАГ; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; german: Sowjetische Militäradministrat ...

. A memorial service to the honour of the fallen was held here every year on or about the feast of

Saint John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

(24 June). In 1930 the cemetery was renamed as the ''Standortfriedhof''. During

it was necessary to enlarge the cemetery a second time, which was easily achieved as it is entirely surrounded by woodland. This third area was set up in about 1940 and surrounded by a wall, including the area of the first extension. More than 700 German soldiers of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

are buried here, as well as foreign

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

ers in 11 mass graves and more than 100

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

s, who were either executed or committed suicide. After the air raids of February 1945 on Dresden more than 450 of those killed were buried here, principally fire brigade members and soldiers; they are commemorated by a memorial stone. The great majority of the victims of 13–14 February are buried in the Heidefriedhof, however. Shortly after the end of the war the name of the cemetery was again changed, this time to the Nordfriedhof. At this time, directly over the street, by the order of the Soviet forces of occupation, the Sowjetischer Garnisonfriedhof Dresden ("Cemetery of the Soviet Garrison of Dresden") was opened, for the dead of the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. Also in the Nordfriedhof is a

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns, holding cremated remains of the deceased. The term can also mean the nesting boxes of pigeons. The term comes from the Latin "'' colu ...

containing approximately 5,500 urn burials from the 1950s and 1960s. The cemetery has been a protected monument since 1987. Today it is a municipal cemetery for civilian burials. Every year on the anniversary of the assassination attempt of 20 July 1944 on

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, a memorial service to the victims of

National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

takes place.

Graves of notable people

Felix von Barth Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

(1851–1931), General *

Adolph von Carlowitz Hans Carl Adolph von Carlowitz (25 March 1858 – 9 July 1928) served as a German army commander during the First World War. Early life Coming from an ancient noble family, Carlowitz studied rights at the Leipzig University. In 1879, he entered t ...

(1858–1928), General and Minister of War of Saxony * Heinrich Leo von Carlowitz (1846–1907), Lieutenant-General * Gustav von der Decken (1861–1931), Lieutenant-General * August Fortmüller (1864–1942), Lieutenant-General * Charles Garke (1860–1936), Lieutenant-General (lived in the

Villa Garke A villa is a type of house that was originally an Ancient Rome, ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, vi ...

) * Lothar von Hausen (1907–1944), corvette captain * Paul von Hingst (1846–1919), Lieutenant-General, * Julius Carl Mathias Hoch (1863–1930), Lieutenant-General * Constantin von Hoenning O'Carroll (1841–1925), Lieutenant-General * Eduard Hummitzsch (1846–1917), Major-General (tomb is considered artistically valuable) * Ernst Hüttig (1872–1913), Paymaster of the protective troops of

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

* Wilhelm Jahn (1866–1924), Lieutenant-General *

Hans von Kirchbach Rudolph Bodo Hans von Kirchbach (born 22 June 1849 in Auerbach (Vogtland) – died 23 July 1928 in Dresden) was a Royal Saxon army officer who was a Generaloberst in the First World War and awarded the Pour le Mérite. Life and military career He ...

(1849–1928), Colonel of the General Staff * Hans Karl Albert Alexander von Kirchbach (1869–1918), Major *

Maximilian von Laffert Maximilian August Hermann Julius von Laffert (10 May 1855 in Lindau – 20 July 1917 in Frankfurt am Main) was a Saxon officer, later General of Cavalry during World War I. He was a recipient of the Pour le Mérite. Maximilian von Laffert suffered ...

(1855–1917), General * Johannes Anton Larraß (1832–1908), Lieutenant-General *

Max Leuthold Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

(1863–1934), Lieutenant-General * Curt von Loeben (1841–1920), Lieutenant-General * Curt von Loeben (1885–1956), Major *

Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker (21 September 1865 in Baldenburg – 31 December 1924 in Dresden) was a German general of World War I. Following the Armistice of 1918 that saw the end of fighting and of the Bolshevik revolution that led to the cre ...

(1869–1924), General and ''Landeskommandant'' of Saxony * Alfred Müller (1866–1925), General and ''Landeskommandant'' of Saxony *

(1837–1902), General and Minister of War of Saxony *

Adolf von Rabenhorst Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

(1846–1925), General * Hermann von Schweinitz (1851–1931), General *

Karl Rudolf Sohn Karl Friedrich Rudolf Sohn (21 July 1845, Düsseldorf – 29 August 1908, Düsseldorf) was a German portrait painter in the Academic style. Biography His father was the landscape painter, Karl Ferdinand Sohn. After graduating from the , he w ...

(1845–1908) portrait painter. *

Else Sohn-Rethel Elisabeth "Else" Johanna Martha Maria Sohn-Rethel (14 March 1853 – 22 January 1933) was a German painter and singer, active in the mid and late 19th-century. Biography Elisabeth Johanna Martha Maria Rethel was born 14 March 1853 in Rome, I ...

(1853–1933) painter and singer. * Arno Thalmann (1869–1932), ''Generaloberarzt'' *

Gotthard von Timroth Gotthard or Saint Gotthard (Italian: San Gottardo) may refer to: People * Gotthard of Hildesheim (960–1038), Roman Catholic saint * Gotthard Heinrici (1886-1971), German General * Uziel Gal, who grew up as Gotthard Glas Places * Saint-Gotthar ...

(1868–1941), Imperial Russian Major-General and Knight of St. George *

Arno Friedrich August Trinckauf The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a sou ...

(1874–1934), Generalarzt * Alphons de Vaux (1854–1918), Lieutenant-General * Woldemar Graf Vitzthum von Eckstädt (1863–1936), President of the Saxon Land Synod *

Hans von Watzdorf Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

(1857–1931), Lieutenant-General * Bernhard Woldemar Weigel (1851–1908), Major-General (tomb is considered artistically valuable) There are also memorials for members of the plot of 20 July 1944: *

Friedrich Olbricht Friedrich Olbricht (4 October 1888 – 21 July 1944) was a German general during World War II and one of the plotters involved in the 20 July Plot, an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. He was a senior staff officer, with the rank of ...

(1888–1944), General and resistance fighter *

Hans Oster Hans Paul Oster (9 August 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a general in the ''Wehrmacht'' and a leading figure of the anti-Nazi German resistance from 1938 to 1943. As deputy head of the counter-espionage bureau in the ''Abwehr'' (German military inte ...

(1887–1945), Major-General and resistance fighter

Memorials

* Memorial grove for the fallen soldiers of

of the Dresden Garrison (considered artistically valuable) * Memorial to the victims of the air raids of 13 February 1945 * Memorial to the fallen of

* Memorial to the members fallen in World War II of Infantry Regiment No. 10, Artillery Regiment No. 4 and Cavalry Regiment No. 12 * Memorial cross for soldiers of the

condemned to death for desertion or ''

Wehrkraftzersetzung ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' or ''Zersetzung der Wehrkraft'' (German for "undermining defence force") was a sedition offence in German military law during the Nazi Germany era from 1938 to 1945. ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' was enacted in 1938 by decree ...

'' (sedition) * Memorial for Hungarian citizens * Memorial for

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and Rumanian workers * Memorial for forced workers from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Sources

* Stein, Marion, 2000: ''Friedhöfe in Dresden'' (edited by the Kulturamt der Stadt Dresden). Verlag der Kunst Dresden * Arbeitskreis Sächsische Militärgeschichte e. V.

External links

History of the Nordfriedhof
*
Nordfriedhof

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordfriedhof Dresden Military cemeteries Cemeteries in Dresden