Calais

394 German war dead of the First World War rest on this war cemetery.

In neighboring cemeteries rest

301 Frenchmen
1.048 Belgians

Département Pas-de-Calais

The Calais cemetery was established in July 1922 by the French military authorities
authorities, who transferred the German dead from various temporary military
Military hospital cemeteries to this cemetery. 1927 also saw the transfer of
Of the dead who had been buried in Sangatte. During the war, Calais was
one of the most important supply ports for the British armies in France during the war
France during the war. As a result, there were also numerous military hospitals here, where
treated not only their own wounded and sick, but also Germans who had
Prisoners of war were treated here. Provisional
Graves for the deceased were often set up on the grounds of the military hospitals
were set up. The earliest death dates of German soldiers begin in October
1914 with the fierce battles in the course of the "Race to the Sea" and around
Ypres. In the first half of 1915, deceased soldiers were buried here who died in the
Captured during the battles for La Bassée, Neuve-Chapelle and Arras.
Further burials did not take place again until June 1917 with the start of the
british major offensive in Flanders and in 1918 as a result of the German attacks
on Amiens, Armentières and the Kemmelberg. Those resting here belonged to
Units whose home garrisons were located in all countries and provinces of the
Provinces of the empire.

Repair work between the wars

The first work to improve the condition of the cemetery was carried out by the
Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. (German War Graves Commission) from 1927 on the basis of an
Agreement with the responsible French military authorities. However
the problem of permanently marking the graves remained due to a lack of
Lack of foreign currency and the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939
unresolved.

Final design

After the conclusion of the Franco-German War Graves Agreement of July 19, 1966, the
1966, the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. was able to begin the
the final design of the German military cemeteries in France from the
Of the First World War in France. With special permission from the
french authorities, participants in youth camps organized by the
Under the motto "Reconciliation over the graves - work for peace"
Work for peace" had already carried out horticultural restoration work. 1977 saw the
The previous temporary wooden grave markers were replaced with permanent crosses
made of Belgian granite, engraved with the names and dates of the dead.

Of the 394 fallen, 365 rest in individual graves.
In the common grave for 29 victims, eight are known by name.

For religious reasons, the grave of one of the fallen of the Jewish faith
a natural stone stele instead of a cross for religious reasons. The Hebrew characters
say:

1. (above) "Here rests buried ... ."

2. (below) "May his soul be interwoven into the circle of the living."

The known names of those resting in the common grave are inscribed on a plaque
recorded. A monolithic block of natural stone was erected as a central marker
erected.