More than 1.8 million German and foreign war dead from the First and Second World Wars are buried in cemeteries in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 7,600 towns and communities, there are over 12,000 war graves, burial grounds and individual graves where victims of war and tyranny are buried.
The design, construction, maintenance and upkeep of war gravesites in Germany are regulated by the Federal Government in the Act on the Preservation of Graves of Victims of War and Tyranny (Graves Act) and in the General Administrative Regulation for the Graves Act (Design Guideline for Germany). On this legal basis, the preparation, care and maintenance of war graves in Germany were transferred to the individual federal states. The federal states generally delegate the tasks of maintaining and repairing war graves to the subordinate administrative units (cemetery authorities).
The German War Graves Commission is committed to preserving and maintaining war gravesites in Germany as far as possible. For example, by the time the first War Graves Act was passed in 1952, the Commission had either built or redesigned around 400 war gravesites in West Germany.
Since January 1, 1993, the Graves Act has also applied in the new federal states. However, it has been taken into account in all deliberations since work began in the new federal states. The German War Graves Commission advises the cemetery authorities – particularly in the new federal states – on the maintenance and restoration of graves located in Germany. Since the opening of the inner-German border, around 1,000 towns and parishes have been advised on the restoration of their war graves and in some cases have also received financial support from us.
The Volksbund has also taken over the maintenance of the war cemeteries Golm/Kamminke in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Halbe in Brandenburg, and thus the future maintenance and upkeep of these cemeteries. In the immediate vicinity of the Golm war cemetery, the Commission also maintains its own youth meeting center, where mainly Polish and German school classes and youth groups are offered the opportunity to take part in project weeks with peace education content.