American Cemetery Margraten

Frits Pieper
20 sep 2015

You can't call it a 'nice' day out, but it is impressive: a visit to the American Netherlands Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten. More than 8000 American soldiers who died during the Second World War are buried here.

From farmland to cemetery

Most of the 8.301 soldiers buried in the 26,5-hectare cemetery, formerly farmland, died during the liberation of Limburg, the Ardennes Offensive – in which almost 77.000 Americans lost their lives – and during the fighting in the Ruhr area.

Thankless task

The cemetery was founded in November 1944, barely two months after South Limburg was liberated. The swampy clay soil due to the wet weather made construction difficult. The gravediggers consisted, besides German prisoners of war, mainly of black soldiers, for whom there was no place in combat units at that time. They had the thankless task of having to bury their white comrades, while upon returning home they were again confronted with racial segregation.

Five hundred corpses a day

Digging the graves was hard work. Both physically and emotionally. There was an almost endless stream of fresh corpses, sometimes as many as five hundred a day. At the 'peak', after the end of the war, almost 18 thousand bodies were buried there. Among them were quite a few Germans, who would later be moved to the German military cemetery in Ysselsteyn.

Final resting place for 8301 Americans

In 1948, the exhumation and honorable reburial of the bodies in coffins began. Some ten thousand bodies were repatriated. Eventually, 8301 Americans would be buried there permanently. One grave is now empty, because in 2001 a body was returned to the US. Because two unidentified Americans are buried in one grave, there are nevertheless as many graves as bodies in the cemetery.

American cemetery MargratenFinal design

In the 50s, the cemetery was finally laid out and each grave was given a white marble cross or Star of David. During this period, the memorial tower, with a chapel inside, and the memorial wall, with the names of approximately 1700 missing persons, were also built. In 1960, the cemetery was officially opened by Queen Juliana. In 2005, American President George W. Bush visited the cemetery during his visit to the Netherlands.

Perpetual loan

To dispel a common misconception: the cemetery is not American territory. The Americans have been given the area in 'perpetual loan' out of respect and as a tribute. Every year, the dead are remembered at the cemetery. This happens on the Sunday before Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, when the Americans remember all their fallen soldiers.

It has been possible to adopt a grave since 1945. Anyone who wants to adopt a grave will be put on a waiting list, because all graves have currently been adopted.

Opening hours and visits

The cemetery is open daily from 9.00:17.00 to 25:1, except on XNUMX December and XNUMX January. The sea of ​​white crosses and the realisation that the fallen were partly responsible for the birth of our freedom, leaves an indelible impression on many visitors.

Read here about Attune's day trips with Adrem.

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