At the German war cemetery in the Sardinian capital
Gagliari - at the municipal cemetery in the San Michele district - are the graves of the
Second World War are buried there.
Description of the cemetery
The approximately 1,500 square meter war cemetery is located near the main entrance
Main entrance. Two open entrances opposite each other, marked by stone
Posts, provide access to the site. The main path divides the cemetery into two
Blocks, each with four rows of graves. Travertine crosses are inscribed on both sides with the names
and dates of two war dead on each side.
The memorial square forms the center of the complex. At each corner is a
Tree at each corner. A metal cross is mounted on a large, light-colored stone block. The
Block bears the five crosses of the Volksbund logo on one side and inscriptions and memorial
inscriptions and memorial lines on the other sides. The inscriptions refer to the
german soldiers reburied on the island of Malta and those who died in Sardinia
germans who died in Sardinia due to illness or the effects of war.
Occupancy
During the First World War, fighting was largely confined to northern Italy
largely confined to northern Italy. Following the conclusion of a war graves agreement between
the Kingdom of Italy and the German Reich in 1937, the Volksbund
German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V.) established seven war cemeteries for
more than 16,000 German war dead. The sites were inaugurated in 1939.
After the Second World War, more than 100,000 German war dead were buried in
3,000 locations in Italy in field graves, smaller provisional sites or in cemeteries
or in cemeteries set up by the Wehrmacht.
The war cemetery in Cagliari is the final resting place of more than 400 German soldiers
of the Second World War have found their final resting place.
History
The war cemetery agreement signed on December 22, 1955 between the Federal Republic of Germany and the
Republic of Italy guarantees the permanent resting place of the German
german dead the permanent. At the same time, it made it possible to bury the
more than 100,000 war dead from the Second World War to be buried together on
final war cemeteries. the Volksbund began the reburials in 1956,
which lasted until 1964.
In Cagliari, the city council made an area available at the municipal
Cemetery of San Michele, which had been dedicated in 1940
its purpose. The first people buried there were civilian war victims and soldiers. 1960
the Volksbund had well over 100 German soldiers reburied there, who were
who had initially been buried at the British military cemetery in Malta.
This was followed by over 300 war dead who had lost their lives in Sardinia due to illness or
Lost their lives in Sardinia due to disease or combat. On June 3, 1961, the
Volksbund opened the war cemetery to the public.
Special feature
Right next to the German war cemetery is the British military cemetery of the
Military cemetery of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. In front of it are the
Graves of the Italian war dead. There is also the "Sacrario
Military", a military sacristy built by the Italian Ministry of Defense to commemorate the
to commemorate the dead of the Second World War. The
imposing building is modeled on the Bronze Age conical towers of the Nuragic
Nuraghe culture that once inhabited Sardinia.
