The Municipal Cemetery of Salzburg or Kommunalfriedhof Salzburg is the largest cemetery of the area. Dating from the nineteenth century the cemetery holds a total of 22.000 graves. In regard to World War Two many victims are gathered here at this cemetery.
The city of Salzburg, Austria, is located close to where the Allied forces from the East and the West closed the gap between them at the end of World War Two. After this the country was divided into different Allied sectors. Interesting fact is that Austria is the only country that was occupied by both the Eastern and Western powers after the war.
This may be the reason that many victims of the war, wether they were civilian bombing victims, forced laborers, prisoners of war, prisoners of concentration camps, Axis or Allied soldiers, members of the SS or even Nazi propaganda heroes, all found their final resting place here at the Municipal Cemetery of Salzburg. Even those that fell in the years after the war as a consequence of the conflict, they are also commemorated at this cemetery by various memorials and monuments.
WWI and WWII War Memorial
This memorial commemorates the fallen soldiers from the region of Salzburg, Austria, of both World Wars whose graves are unknown. This Cenotaph is located in the war graves section 1914-1918 of the Cemetery.
Military graves of WWI – 1914-1918
On the Kommunalfriedhof Salzburg is a large section for fallen soldiers of World War One. The graves are located near the memorial Cenotaph in the war graves section 1914-1918 of the Cemetery.
Military graves of WWII – 1939-1945
The war graves for fallen soldiers of World War Two are divided in multiple locations. Some of the WW2 graves are located in the 1914-1918 section of the Cemetery near the Cenotaph, like the graves in the pictures underneath here.
The following pictures of World War Two graves are in the 1939-1945 section. This section is located in the Southwest area of the cemetery and is the final resting place for 272 fallen Austrian soldiers.
Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim
Robert Ritter von Greim (∗22 June 1892 – †24 May 1945) was a German flying ace during WW1 and a Luftwaffe field marshal in WW2. Von Greim took part in the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 together with Adolf Hitler and remained a devoted Nazi until the end of the war. Von Greim is the last person ever promoted to field marshal in the German Armed Forces.
Bombing raid victims of Salzburg City
This plot holds the remains of 197 victims who lost their lives during the bombing raids on the City of Salzburg between October 1944 and May 1945.
A memorial is dedicated to the total of 710 victims who perished during this time.
Dutch War Cemetery
This Dutch War Cemetery and memorial field is on a separate plot at the Kommunalfriedhof Salzburg and commemorates a total of 141 Dutch people who died in Austria and Czechoslovakia during the Second World War. The plot holds the remains of 87 Dutch people. Two memorial stones bear names of another 54 victims who could not be buried here.
A monument has also been erected here in memory of the 1,650 Dutch victims who died in the Mauthausen concentration camp.
Soviet War grave and Memorial
This mass grave holds the remains of 55 Russian civilians.
The Reitsch family grave
This is the family grave of German Aviatrix and Nazi propaganda star Hanna Reitsch. Together with Generalfeldmarshall Robert Ritter von Greim, who is also buried at this cemetery, Reitsch made a daring landing under heavy fire in the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate during the Battle of Berlin and was among the last people to meet Adolf Hitler alive in the Führerbunker.
Reitsch survived the war, but was buried in this family grave after suffering from a fatal heart attack in August 1979, aged 67.
Above her name on the tomb stone there are the names of her father Willy, mother Emy and sister Heidi with her kids Hanns, Ellen and Björn. Hanna’s father took their lives and his own while they were on refuge here in Salzburg on May 3rd or 4th 1945, when he heard a rumor that the family was to be sent back to their home in Silesia on the Soviet side.
You can find the Reitsch family grave at plot 60, row 20, Grave number 013-014.
Other World War Two Memorials
Kommunalfriedhof Salzburg has a lot of memorials scattered across the cemetery grounds. Underneath are the most notable in relation to World War Two.
Fallen Soldiers of Salzburg Memorial
This memorial commemorates the fallen soldiers of Salzburg during both World Wars.
Sudeten Germans Memorial
This memorial is dedicated to the more than 3 million Sudeten Germans that were expelled from Central and Eastern Europe after World War Two, between 1945 and 1946 and to an estimated 240,000 whom lost their lives.
Danube Swabians Memorial
This memorial is dedicated to the Danube Swabians, in German Donauschwaben, who lost their lives during World War Two and the post-war expulsion from Central and Eastern Europe.
Visit
You can visit Kommunalfriedhof Salzburg at the Gneiser Straße 8, 5024 in Salzburg. Please check the cemetery’s website form more information about opening hours.
