Nantillois

This war cemetery is home to 918 German war dead from the First World War. Département Meuse, The German military cemetery at Nantillois was established by their own troops at the beginning of March 1916, when the German attacks on Verdun were extended to the west bank of the Meuse. At the beginning of the battle, several military hospitals were set up in the Ferme Madelaine opposite the cemetery. The seriously wounded who died here were laid to rest at the edge of the forest. In addition, there were the fallen from the detached troops from the "Height 304" and "Dead Man" combat areas. Among others, 179 fallen of the Inf.Regt. 15, 325 fallen of the Res.Inf.Regt.109 as well as fallen of 5 other regiments rest here. The burials ended with the retreat of the German troops to positions on the east bank of the Meuse in October 1918. Those resting here belonged to units whose home garrisons were in Silesia, West Prussia, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Westphalia, Baden, Bavaria and the Rhineland. Repair work between the wars Initial work to improve the condition of the cemetery was carried out by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. (German War Graves Commission) on the basis of an agreement reached with the French military authorities in 1926. The funds were donated by former members of the 54th Inf.Div. who took over the sponsorship of the cemetery. These funds were used to erect a high cross made of natural stone as a central marker and a rain canopy. In addition, numerous trees were planted and the entrance area was landscaped with a gate and natural stone walls, and the graves were planted with greenery. However, the problem of permanently marking the graves remained unresolved due to a lack of foreign currency and the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Final design Following the conclusion of the Franco-German War Graves Agreement of July 19, 1966, the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. - with financial support from the German government - was able to undertake the final design of the German military cemeteries of the First World War in France. Young volunteers from the War Graves Commission had already begun the preliminary gardening work. in 1974, the previous temporary wooden grave markers were replaced by metal crosses with the names and dates of the dead cast into them. The cross foundations, which weighed 35 kilograms and were transported by the German army, were once again moved by young volunteers from the Volksbund. Of the 918 fallen, 888 rest in individual graves; 29 remain nameless. In the common grave with 30 victims, only two are known by name. For religious reasons, the two graves of the fallen of the Jewish faith were marked with a natural stone grave stele instead of a cross, the Hebrew characters of which read: 1 (above) "Here rests buried ... ." 2. (below) "May his soul be included in the circle of the living." Maintenance: The cemetery is constantly maintained by the Volksbund's maintenance service.