DEUTSCHER SOLDTENFRIENHOF, Vladslo Belgium

The Flanders area of Western Wallonian is full of WWII war cemeteries. The Allied cemeteries are common and full of visitors but I was the only person as this German one.

After the war, there were 678 German military cemeteries with 134,000 soldiers in Belgium alone. In 1925, the number was reduced to 128 and in 1954 to just four: Hooglede (8,247), Langemark (44,294 including 25,000 in a mass grave), Menen (47,864), and Vladslo (25,645). Initially, there were wooden blocks with a bronze plaque that were replaced by the current granite grave markers each commemorating 20 soldiers.

Vladslo, amid oak trees, is best known for the two statues Grieving Parents created by Kathie Kollwitze whose son Peter is buried at the foot of the father’s statue. They are universal symbols for every parent who has lost a child to the tragedy of war and are renowned for their simplicity: the father is kneeling with hunched shoulders but his head is erect and the mother is kneeling but head bowed. Both have their arms crossed in front.

When I was here, in contrast to the Allied cemeteries, there were no other visitors.