Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Vladslo

Description[edit] [edit source]

The cemetery is located in the Praatbos, about three kilometers north of the center of Vladslo, near the border with Koekelare. It is a large green lawn containing the many small tombstones with the names of the soldiers. In between are some crosses and oaks.

Grieving parents[edit| [edit source]

Grieving Parents

In the cemetery are the granite statues of the Grieving Parents, made by the Berlin artist Käthe Kollwitz in memory of her eighteen-year-old son Peter Kollwitz. He had volunteered as a musketeer and was killed in action on 23 October1914 in neighbouring Esen. [1] Peter's grave is just in front of the grieving parents. The original grave cross of Peter Kollwitz is in the In Flanders Fields Museum. 

In the sculpture pair, Käthe Kollwitz has made a chiseled portrait of herself and her husband Karl. [2] The separated images experience their sorrow, each for itself. The kneeling father stares at his son's grave and has his arms crossed in front of his chest. The mother is depicted with her head bowed and has her hand on her neck, as if she were cradling a child. There is no trace of pride in the fallen hero or gratitude for the sacrifice made. In their mourning and loss, the parents seem to blame themselves mainly for letting their child go to war. The Nazis considered the art of Käthe Kollwitz to be "degenerate".

History[edit] [edit source]

The first Germans were buried in the Praatbos in October 1914, during the Battle of the Yser. The army also installed a first aid station where many of the wounded died, so that the cemetery grew and by the end of the war had more than three thousand dead. The Lange Max Museum is located six kilometers from the cemetery.

In the years 1956-1958, the more than one hundred small German military cemeteries scattered across Flanders were reduced to four. The mortal remains were transferred to the collective cemeteries of Hooglede, Langemark, Menen and Vladslo. More than 20,000 graves were transferred to Vladslo from more than sixty places.

The statues of the grieving parents were placed on 24 July 1932 in the former cemetery at the Roggeveld in Esen, in the presence of the artist. They were also transferred to Vladslo in 1957. The cemetery was redesigned by the German architect Robert Tischler and is maintained by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge.

At the beginning of 1996, Käthe Kollwitz's grandson proposed to replace the Grieving Parents with a replica and bring the originals to Berlin. The Flemish government rejected this and in 1997 the cemetery was protected as a monument. [3]

Tribute[edit] [edit source]

The cemetery was sung by Willem Vermandere in his song "Vladslo", which appeared in 1995 on the album Mijn Vlaanderland.

In 2018, a replica was made of the Grieving Parents, who were placed in the German-Russian soldiers' cemetery of Rzhev, where Käthe Kollwitz's grandson is buried after a "peace tour" through Europe. [4]

External links[edit] | [edit source]

(de) Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Vladslo, on website of Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberstātten

(and) Vladslo German Cemetery.

German military cemetery Vladslo, on WO1.be

(and) German military cemetery Vladslo (Soldiers' cemeteries in Flanders: Vladslo).

(and) Ypres: Vladslo German Cemetery.

Commons has media files in the category Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Vladslo.

Literature

Kathelijn Vervarcke (2013), Peter Kollwitz (Bruges: The Poppy), 120 pages.

Nuts

↑ Unfathomable grief and self-reproach, De Standaard, 23 October 2014

↑ Grieving parents couple

↑ German military cemetery - Immovable Heritage Sheet

↑ http://www.ediksmuide.be/nieuws/nieuws/treurend-ouderpaar-bis-op-weg-naar-rusland/

Categories:

Immovable heritage in Diksmuide

Cemetery of the First World War

German military cemetery in Belgium

Protected monument in Flanders

SOURCE: Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Vladslo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joris Broché