At the end of World War II, more than 107,000 German war dead were buried in field graves, small provisional cemeteries or military cemeteries established by the armed forces in more than 3,000 locations in Italy. Due to the widespread distribution of the graves, it was not possible to maintain them. The war graves agreement concluded between the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy on December 22, 1955 therefore provided for the reburial of German war dead in permanent military cemeteries.
After eight and a half years of work, the Volksbund's reburial service was able to finish its work in Italy in September 1964. Since the beginning of 1956, almost 100,000 German fallen of the Second World War have been transferred to eight permanent German military cemeteries.
The more than 16,000 German soldiers who fell in the First World War were laid to rest in seven war cemeteries built by the Commission and inaugurated in 1939, following the conclusion of a German-Italian war graves agreement in 1937. The military cemetery on the Pordoi-Joch in the Dolomites was only completed after the Second World War; soldiers who fell during the 1940-1945 war period also rest here. Soldiers who fell from the Austro-Hungarian army are also buried in most of these cemeteries.