The German War Cemetery in Lommel is the largest WWII German Military Cemetery outside of Germany in Western Europe. The cemetery is the final resting place for a little over 39,100 German fallen soldiers. Most of them fell during WWII and a small part of the 16 acres holds 542 graves from the Great War (WWI) that were formerly buried in a cemetery at Leopoldsburg, Belgium. About 6.000 of the fallen could not be identified. 1.200 of the fallen classify as child soldiers.
The casualties fell during various war campaigns and battles in Western Europe, but the largest number of victims fell during the last two years of the war between late 1944 and 1945, when Germany was losing ground and the fighting was very fierce, like in the Battle for Hürtgen Forest and Aachen or the Battle of the Bulge and the defense of the Remagen bridgehead.
Although it is officially not allowed, you will find a lot of German graves have been added with some decoration or reminders by their relatives and loved ones.
The Crypt
At the entrance of the cemetery you can visit the crypt. The building has an impressive sculpture depicting the crucifixion on top. Inside the crypt are some decorative tiled murals and a sculpture of the fallen soldier.
Visit German War Cemetery Lommel
You can find the cemetery left of the N746 if you follow the road from Lommel to Leopoldsburg. For more information visit http://www.jbs-lommel.de/en/military-cemetery.html
