Berlin-Zehlendorf, Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf II

At around 38 hectares, this relatively large and most important post-war cemetery in the western part of Berlin was first created in the form of a pine forest in 1946/47. However, the first burials had already taken place before this. To the south of the cemetery is an extensive wooded area with the so-called Königsweg. In earlier times, it served as a connection between Berlin and Potsdam. Almost inevitably, every walk through the cemetery leads past the centrally located burial grounds with the victims of war and tyranny. Graves are lined up under sparse pine trees, mainly of military personnel from the Second World War and civilians, including those from the USSR, Poland, Latvia and Austria, as well as some displaced persons. Over the years, almost all of the cemetery's victims' graves have been grouped together in three sections near the Potsdamer Chaussee entrance. In addition to these three cemeteries, the "Italian Cemetery of Honour", which was laid out between 1954 and 1958, is also impressive. On 8,250 m², a central cemetery was created for the Italian victims buried scattered throughout Berlin and the former Eastern zone. Flat, light-colored pillow stones made of natural stone are arranged in long rows on a trapezoidal, simple lawn. They branch off from an approx. 140-metre-long main axis, which leads to a white 6.4-metre-high stone cross made of shell limestone. The dead were mainly soldiers, but there are also civilians and forced laborers among the victims. In addition to the approx. 800 dead from Berlin, a further 2,000 reburials from the Soviet-occupied zone were planned for this site. However, difficulties with the reburial measures meant that only 1,177 Italian victims, mainly reburied in 1957/58, found their final resting place in Zehlendorf. The front part of the site is therefore not occupied.