Hamburg Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery is a

war 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 ...

which was built and is looked after by 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 ...

(CWGC). The

war grave 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 b ...

s of 676 Commonwealth service personnel from

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 ...

and 1,889 from

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 ...

are located near Chapel 12 (German: ''Kapelle 12'') in the greater

Ohlsdorf Cemetery Ohlsdorf Cemetery (german: Ohlsdorfer Friedhof or (former) ) in the Ohlsdorf quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany, is the biggest rural cemetery in the world and the fourth-largest cemetery in the world. Most of the people buried at the cemete ...

in the Ohlsdorf quarter of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Graves of World War I

During

a part of Ohlsdorf cemetery was reserved to bury more than 300 soldiers of the Allied Forces who died as

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

. In 1923 the CWGC decided to build four central war cemeteries for all servicemen of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

nations who were killed in action and were otherwise victims of war. One, Friedhof Ohlsdorf (Ohlsdorf Cemetery) in Hamburg, incorporated from then on the Hamburg Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery. Later on, those killed in action as well as the other deceased persons were transferred from 120 provisional war cemeteries in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

and

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

Sachsen 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 ...

and

Westfalen 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 ...

to bury them in the new installed cemetery. In total 708 killed or deceased persons from

were buried here or mentioned on commemorative tables. In particular, the prisoners of war who died in

Parchim Parchim (; Mecklenburgisch: ''Parchen'') is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is the capital of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. It was the birthplace of Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, to whom a monument was erected in 1876. Found ...

and whose graves could not be identified are mentioned here. Twenty-five unidentified sailors, whose

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

sunk in 1916 in the neighbourhood of

Helgoland Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions ...

, are also buried here, following recovery of the submarine in the 1970s. The

German War Graves Commission The German War Graves Commission ( in German) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa. Its objectives are acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves; tending to next of kin; youth ...

(Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge) counts 676 buried Commonwealth soldiers of World War I.

Graves of World War II and postwar

After

1,466 soldiers of Commonwealth nations, who were

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

crews who had been shot down, as well as part of occupying forces, were buried here. Several years later an additional 378 persons from Commonwealth nations were buried here. Also, 14 soldiers from other nations have their graves located here. The

(Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge) counts 1,889 Commonwealth soldiers of World War II buried here. A list of names of the Commonwealth soldiers who fell in Second World War exists.

Gravestones and gardening

The structures and plantings in this war cemetery are in compliance with the CWGC standards.CWGC Horticulture
/ref> Looking out over the cemetery, numerous rows of graves are visible. In the background, there is a Hall of Remembrance as a landmark. This cemetery was designed by

Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Gothi ...

. In direct view on an axis lies a

Cross of Sacrifice The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth war memorial designed in 1918 by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). It is present in Commonwealth war cemeteries containing 40 or ...

, followed by the

Stone of Remembrance The Stone of Remembrance is a standardised design for war memorials that was designed in 1917 by the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens for the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC). It was designed to commemorate the dead of World War I, to b ...

with the inscription "Their Name Liveth For Evermore." The white limestone gravestones show the

emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...

of the military unit, day of death,

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

(if known), name and

military rank Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a ...

and words of remembrance by relatives. In front of the individual graves are

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s. There is a visitors' book in one of the two pavilions.

References

External links

Hamburg (Ohlsdorf) Cemetery, i. e. Hamburg Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery within Ohlsdorf Cemetery

* ttp://tegelsbarg.youtube.video4me.net/user/tegelsbarg/play/2ZAbwqprOqw/hamburg_friedhof_ohlsdorf_commonwealth_war_graves tegelsbarg: ''hamburg friedhof ohlsdorf commonwealth war graves'' on youtube.* * {{coord, 53, 37, 20, N, 10, 04, 01, E, display=title Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Germany World War I cemeteries in Germany World War II cemeteries in Germany World War II memorials in Germany Military history of the United Kingdom