German War Graves Commission
| Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge | |
German War Graves Commission Logo
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| Abbreviation | VDK |
|---|---|
| Motto | Work for Peace (in German: Arbeit für den Frieden) |
| Formation | 16 December 1916 |
| Legal status | Association |
| Purpose | To locate, maintain, care for German war graves outside of Germany |
| Headquarters | Kassel, Hesse, Germany |
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Region served
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Europe and North Africa (45 countries) |
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Membership
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114,098 (2013) |
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Official language
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German |
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President
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Bru-C |
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Main organ
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until 2012: Stimme & Weg, from 2013 on: frieden |
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Budget
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EUR 41,203,000 (2013) |
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Staff
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571 (2013) |
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Volunteers
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8,000 (2013) |
| Website | http://www.volksbund.de |
The German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge in German) 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.
It was founded as a private charity on December 16, 1919 as the recognised [German] Commission 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. During World War II, the Volksbund's work was mostly carried out by the Wehrmacht's own graves service.
After World War II, the Volksbund resumed its work in 1946 and soon established more than 400 war cemeteries in Germany. In 1954, the German chancellor Konrad Adenauer, tasked the Volksbund with the establishment, care and upkeep of German war cemeteries abroad.
To guard the memory of the victims of war and violence, to work for peace among all nations and to guarantee dignity of men, are the main goals in the statutes of the German War Graves Commission. All activities of German War Graves Commission have to harmonize with these general principles.
The Commission spent about 41 million Euro (in 2013). Two-thirds of this sum was financed by members and private donations. One third was paid by government (war graves outside of Germany) and states (maintenance of some war graves within Germany).
The commission looks after "832 military cemeteries in 45 countries with about 2.6 million dead" and its work is carried out today by 8,000 honorary and 571 full-time employees. Since the end of the Cold War, the Volksbund has access to Eastern Europe, where most World War II German casualties occurred. Since 1991, 188 World War I cemeteries and 330 World War II cemeteries in eastern, central and south-eastern Europe have been reconstructed or rebuilt and about 759,110 bodies have been buried in new graves. Maintenance of German war cemeteries in France is looked after by the Service d'Entretien des Sépultures Militaires Allemandes (the "German Military Burials Maintenance Service") known as S.E.S.M.A..
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Wikipedia