German War Graves Commission
organisation responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves
The People's Alliance of the German War Graves Care (German: Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, pronounced [ˈfɔlksbʊnt ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈkʁiːksɡʁɛːbɐˌfyːɐ̯zɔʁɡə] ) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa. Its objectives are acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves; tending to next of kin; youth and educational work; and preservation of the memory to the sacrifices of war and despotism. Former head of the Bundeswehr Wolfgang Schneiderhan was elected President of the organisation in 2016, succeeding SPD politician Markus Meckel. The President of Germany, currently Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), is the organisation's patron.
Role
The People's Alliance of the German War Graves Care cares for the graves, at 832 cemeteries in 46 countries, of more than 2.7 million persons killed during World War I and World War II. The German war graves are intended to remember all groups of war dead: military personnel, those dead by aerial warfare, murdered in the Holocaust, and all other persons persecuted to death. In addition, the Volksbund maintains cemeteries and memorials of the Franco-Prussian War, First Schleswig War, Second Schleswig War, and the German colonial era.
History
Establishment
The commission was founded as a private charity on 16 December 1919, as the recognised [German] People's Alliance under the war graves provisions of Article 225 of the Treaty of Versailles. By the 1930s, the commission had established numerous cemeteries for German World War I dead.
World War II and postwar
During World War II, the work of the People's Alliance was mostly carried out by the Wehrmacht's own graves service. After World War II, the People's Alliance resumed its work in 1946 and soon established more than 400 war cemeteries in Germany.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “German War Graves Commission” is organisation responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through German, Graves and Commission, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “organisation responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q708567. VIAF identifies the subject as 124914278. The Library of Congress control number is n82250567. Authority coordinates are 51.315, 9.539. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2016, 1919 and 1946.
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This entry incorporates text from “German War Graves Commission” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.