Südfriedhof is the German name for the South Cemetery in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. With an area of over 61 hectares, it is the largest cemetery in Cologne. Südfriedhof also has sections for 2,596 Commonwealth war graves from prisoners of war mainly from the

First World War 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 ...

.https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/34600/COLOGNE%20SOUTHERN%20CEMETERY There are also over 1,900 Italian prisoners of war buried here. More dramatically, but less acknowledged, the cemetery contains the remains of around 40,000 civilian victims of the bombing of Cologne in the Second World War.https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/15287/S%FCdfriedhof-K%F6ln-German-War-Graves.htm

History

Conceived in 1899 and opened in 1901 the cemetery was laid out as a parkland, and was heavily planted to enhance its woodland ambience, to a design by the landscape architect Adolf Kowallek. Kowallek died the year after the cemetery opened and is buried near its entrance. The cemetery has been extended several times, notably in 1915, during the First World War, to accommodate dead prisoners of war, plus later extension in the 1930s and lastly in 1963.

Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery

Cologne Southern Cemetery was used for burying British Commonwealth prisoners of war who died in captivity within the area during the First World War, and for those who died while serving in the British army of occupation garrison in the area between 1918 and 1926. From 1922, it also received reburials of British Commonwealth personnel from graveyards in the regions of

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Hessen,

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

and

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

who became concentrated within what became the present Commonwealth cemetery. In addition, over 130 Commonwealth personnel from the

Second World War 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 ...

were buried here, mostly personnel of the allied occupation force. The

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

also maintain 676 non-war graves and 30 graves of service personnel of other nationalities. In the shelter building at the entrance of the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery is the Cologne Memorial, consisting of four plaques listing 25 British personnel who died within Germany but whose graves were not located or who drowned without their bodies being recovered.

Notable Burials

* Karl Berbuer composer * Dominik Bohm architect * Otto Bongartz architect * Werner Koj author * Peter Muller boxer * Adolf Nocker architect *

Max Scheler Max Ferdinand Scheler (; 22 August 1874 – 19 May 1928) was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology. Considered in his lifetime one of the most prominent German philosophers,Davis, Zachar ...

philosopher * Wolfgang Wollner sculptor

References

External links

* * – Italian graves * – British and Irish graves * – British graves {{DEFAULTSORT:Sudfriedhof (Cologne) Cemeteries in Cologne