This German War Cemetery holds the remains of six fallen World War One and 371 fallen World War Two soldiers, who are reburied here from various locations in central and southern Finland. After permission from the Finnish Government in 1959, the German Volksbund started the construction of the war cemetery, which opened to the public on August 30, 1963.
The 12,000 square meters large cemetery is characterised by a sparse woodland, with pine and birch trees and rock formations, lined by a wall of small- to medium-sized boulders.
Near the entrance of the cemetery is a paved square with a memorial bearing the names of 83 German marines who died in the night of 11 to 12 December 1944 after the Kriegsmarine destroyers Z35 and Z36 sank in the Gulf of Finland.
From here, a path leads visitors through the woodland, lined by the headstones of the fallen. At the West side of the cemetery is another square with a sculpture “Mourning Women” and a sheltered gallery with memorial wall.
The sinking of Z35 and Z36
On December 9th 1944, German type 1936B destroyer Z35, serving as the flagship of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla commanded by Kapitän zur See (Captain) Friedrich Kothe, departed Gotenhafen (now Gdynia, Poland) together with the destroyers Z36 and Z43, and the large torpedo boats T23 and T28, on a mission to lay a new minefield off Reval (now Tallinn), between the Estonian coast and an existing minefield designated Nashorn slightly further north out to sea. The torpedo boats were to escort the three destroyers, which each carried 68 mines.
Due to poor weather conditions, the mission was delayed until the night of 11 to 12 December. While en route the weather again gradually worsened during the day, with spray and rain making navigation difficult. In the darkness of the night, this lead to a navigational error that caused the destroyers Z35 and Z36 to venture too far north and unknowingly end up in the existing minefield, just 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km; 2.9 mi) north of the intended position for the new minefield.
At 1:52 disaster struck, starting with a faint explosion coming from Z35. When Flotilla Commander Kothe radioed T23 to come alongside Z35, a second explosion occurred at her port side, knocking out the port turbine and flooding one compartment.
Just a few minutes later at around 02:00, sister destroyer Z36 struck a mine and sank very quickly with all hands lost. Then Z35 received its final blow only a short time later, with an explosion amidships. The crew abandoned ship, but in the darkness of the night and surrounded by possible sea mines, the escorting ships could not come to their aid and abandoned the mission.
Eventually only 87 crew members survived and more than 540 men, including Kothe himself, lost their lives on December 12th 1944. A handful of men were rescued by Soviet torpedo boats, while another 67 men managed to reach Finland on life rafts. With Finland on the side of the Allies at this time in the war, these survivors were handed over to the Soviets as prisoners of war.
The text on the memorial above the listed names reads:
“Zum gedenken an die Besatzungsmitglieder der Zerstörer Z35 und Z36 die beim Untergang ihrer Schiffe am 12-12-1944 im Finnischen Meerbusen den Tod fanden.
201 tote wurden geborgen und ruhen in Einzelgräbern auf diesem Friedhof. Nur 21 Gräber tragen einen Namen. 97 Seeleute blieben unbekannt. Von 83 gefallenen wissen wir die Namen. Ohne ihnen ein bestimmtes grab zuweisen zu können.”
Translated in English:
“In memory of the crew members of the destroyers Z35 and Z36, who lost their lives when their ships sank in the Gulf of Finland on 12 December 1944.
The bodies of 201 dead were recovered and laid to rest in individual graves in this cemetery. Only 21 graves bear a name. Ninety-seven sailors remain unidentified. We know the names of 83 of the fallen, but we cannot assign them to any particular grave.”
The wrecks of both ships now rest on the bottom of the Baltic Sea (Z35: 59°38.2′N 24°20′E | Z36: 59°38.1′N 24°20′E).
Visit
You can visit the cemetery freely during the daytime.
Sources
- Volksbund.de (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V.)
- usni.org (U.S. Naval Institute)
- deutsches-marinearchiv.de
- forum-der-wehrmacht.de
- Wikipedia
