The war cemetery with graves from the Second World War is adjacent to the civilian cemetery of Pornichet.
Description of the cemetery
The memorial hall with the comrades' grave is located at the highest point of the site. A ten-meter-high granite cross is a symbol of the cemetery visible from afar. Four bronze plaques are mounted on concrete plinths and mark the graves. Each plaque names a war dead. Blue cedars mark the vegetation on the site.
Burial
The Wehrmacht initially buried 1,753 dead in this cemetery. The Atlantic coast of the Bay of Biscay was important for German naval warfare. The Germans developed the towns of Lorient and St. Nazaire into strong bases in occupied France - especially for submarine operations. As a result, these locations were frequently the targets of air raids by Allied forces. After the Allied landings in Normandy in the summer of 1944, the bases remained in German hands for a long time. The occupation of St. Nazaire only surrendered on May 11, 1945 - three days after the end of the Second World War in Europe.
After the war, the French authorities arranged for additional burials, increasing the number of graves to 2,672. In 1960 and 1961, the reburial service of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. reinterred a further 2,163 war dead from the departments of Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Vendée and Deux-Sèvres in Pornichet.
In addition to the soldiers, German civilian dead who died in internment camps after the liberation of France also rest here. During the reburial work, it was possible to locate many previously unrecorded graves and thus identify a large number of previously unknown dead.
History
Two war cemetery agreements (1954 and 1966) between Germany and France form the legal framework for the expansion and preservation of German war cemeteries. The Franco-German War Graves Agreement of 1966 stipulated that the site in Pornichet was to be expanded to accommodate additional burials. The redesign made it necessary to remove some of the existing structures. The entrance area was renovated.
The Saar regional association of the Volksbund is the sponsor of this cemetery.
Special feature
The hall of honor at the Pornichet war cemetery is shaped like a submarine bunker. This is a reference to the connection between many of those buried there and the navy.
Photographs: Matthias Krebbers, Le Pellerin/France
