During the Second World War, Germany entered the fighting in North Africa in 1941 to support its ally Italy.
The aim was also to cut off the sea route through the Suez Canal, which was important for England. When the fighting on this continent ended on May 13, 1943, 130,000 Germans and an equal number of Italians were taken prisoner.
Many thousands of war dead from all nations involved in the war remained behind.
The Commission created war cemeteries for more than 20,000 German war dead in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.
After the German-Tunisian War Graves Agreement was signed on March 28, 1966, preliminary planning for a German collective grave in Tunisia could begin. The construction work in Bordj Cedria was carried out between 1973 and 1975. The German soldiers originally buried in Bizerta, El M'Dou, La Mornaghia, Mateur, Nassen and Sfax found their final resting place here. The reburials took another two years, and the site was inaugurated on September 28, 1977. Due to the climatic conditions, burials were avoided and the dead were buried in ossuaries. A total of 8,564 German war dead are buried in this cemetery. This makes Bordj Cedria the largest German war cemetery on African soil.