German war cemetery Vladslo |
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located about three kilometers from the village of Vladslo, near Diksmuide in Belgium, is the resting place of German soldiers who died in the First World War.
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At the end of World War I, there were 678 German war cemeteries in Belgium on which 134 thousands of soldiers were buried. In 1925, their number was reduced to 128, ultimately by virtue of the international agreement of 1954, all graves of German soldiers could be moved to four cemeteries, located in Hooglede, Langemark, Menen and Vladslo.
The Vladslo cemetery, on which 25645 German soldiers were buried, clearly contrasts with the English and American cemeteries. There is no pride of heroes, sublime slogans, you can see that it is a cemetery of the defeated. Dark stone slabs with engraved names, surnames, military ranks and dates of death of twenty soldiers on each one.
In addition, the gloomy mood is heightened by the sculpture of grieving parents by Käthe Kollwitz, the famous German sculptor whose youngest son, Peter, was killed near Diksmuide 23 October of the 1914 year. This sculpture symbolizes the pain and suffering of all parents who lost their children in the war. In one of the graves opposite the monument, Peter Kollwitz was buried.
In addition, the gloomy mood is heightened by the sculpture of grieving parents by Käthe Kollwitz, the famous German sculptor whose youngest son, Peter, was killed near Diksmuide 23 October of the 1914 year. This sculpture symbolizes the pain and suffering of all parents who lost their children in the war. In one of the graves opposite the monument, Peter Kollwitz was buried.