0153 Der Ehrenfriedhof des Ersten Weltkriegs auf dem Saarbrücker Hauptfriedhof

Die Bauaufgabe Soldatenfriedhof zwischen Friedhofsreform, lokaler Tradition und individuellem Gedenken

Abstract

Saarbrücken’s memorial cemetery for the fallen of World War I, a "war cemetery in the homeland" ("Kriegerfriedhof in der Heimat"), is an outstanding example in terms of design as well as of social history among the war cemeteries of that time. In addition to two adjacent ring systems for German and enemy casualties, the cemetery reserved fields for air raid victims, for veterans of 1870/71 (!), as well as for Muslim soldiers of the French occupying forces after the war. The directives on the creation of the tombs reflect the influences of the cemetery reform movement in Germany. The need for personal remembrance was also strongly respected and families were allowed to set up tombstones for their relatives perished in wartime. We know only few war cemeteries with a comparable “individualized” character.