This tomb has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since September 2023.
Burial
11,422 German casualties of the First World War are buried in Rancourt. Few of them died during the fighting in the fall of 1914 and the subsequent war of position until the summer of 1916. Two thirds of the dead were victims of the second Battle of the Somme from June to November 1916, while another third were buried in this cemetery during and after the third major battle in this area from the end of March to late summer 1918.
Those buried in Rancourt belonged to units from all areas of the German Reich. Of the 3,930 buried in individual and group graves, 126 remain unknown. There are 7,492 fallen soldiers buried in two common graves. 2.316 of them are known by name. The nine graves of Jewish soldiers were given stelae made of the same material instead of a cross for religious reasons.
History
Many guests attended the inauguration of the cemetery with a simple ceremony on September 17, 1933 - including representatives of French authorities and residents of Rancourt. The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. (German War Graves Commission) undertook the initial maintenance work in 1929 on the basis of an agreement with the French military authorities in 1926.
The cemetery was bordered by a hedge and planted with trees. The two communal graves were surrounded by a wall. They were planted with wild roses. A new entrance with stone pillars and a wrought-iron gate provided access.
However, the problem of permanently marking the graves also remained unresolved at this cemetery - first due to a lack of foreign currency and later because of the Second World War.
After the conclusion of the Franco-German War Graves Agreement of July 19, 1966, the Volksbund - financially supported by the German government - began the final design of the German military cemeteries in France.
From 1972, it replaced the provisional wooden grave markers with crosses made of Belgian granite with engraved names and dates. Soldiers from the German Armed Forces and young people who took part in Volksbund youth camps helped to landscape the graves and place the crosses. The fundamental restoration of the site also included a new hedge as a border. The Volksbund also planted young trees and bushes. The borders of the communal graves made of natural stone were also renewed - they bear plaques with the names and dates of the fallen.
The Rancourt cemetery is constantly looked after by the Volksbund's maintenance service.
Special feature
A small memorial hall made of red Vosges sandstone was built between the common graves before the inauguration in 1933. The passages were fitted with artistically forged doors and grilles. On the back wall inside is a sculpture by the Munich professor Geiger made of Upper Bavarian tuff. It depicts a burial.
In September 2023, UNESCO declared 139 First World War cemeteries to be World Heritage Sites. 24 German cemeteries are in the care of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. - Rancourt is one of them.
