The German war cemetery in the commune of La Chapelle-en-Juger in the French département of Manche, twelve kilometers west of Saint-Lô, bears the name of the commune of Marigny, two kilometers to the southwest. 11,169 German soldiers are buried in the cemetery, which was inaugurated on September 20, 1961.
Description of the cemetery
The cemetery is divided into five elongated blocks of graves and surrounded by ramparts. The architectural design of the entrance building is based on the character of the old Norman village churches. Its quarry stone masonry blends harmoniously into the landscape. Ceramic plaques above the graves bear the names, ranks and dates of life and death of two war dead. The groups of symbolic crosses characteristic of German war cemeteries are evenly distributed across the site. A stone wall surrounds the cemetery.
History
During the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944, the warring parties suffered heavy losses. In the Cherbourg region, many German soldiers lost their lives in bombing raids near Marigny, La Chapelle-en-Juger and the surrounding villages. In the course of the fierce landing battles, 3,070 American soldiers died in the St. Mere-Eglise and "Utah Beach" sections. These war dead were initially buried by the American burial service near Marigny. In 1945 and 1946, they were reburied at the Saint-James cemetery (instead of St. Laurent-sur-Mer).
Special feature
There is a memorial stone near the entrance to the Marigny war cemetery. It commemorates the soldiers of the VII US Corps who were initially buried there and later transferred to the large American military cemetery at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer.
Photographs: Erhard Lauber
