The Ludwigstein war cemetery houses 294 war graves - those of prisoners of concentration camps, the AEL Breitenau work education camp, forced labourers and so-called ‘displaced persons’. Some of the deceased died during World War II, of disease, harsh living conditions or mistreatment; the others died after the liberation while waiting for an opportunity to return to their homelands. Among these, is a large number of victims from Poland. Additionally, German civilians as well as German soldiers and soldiers of the Allied Forces who fell towards the end of the war, in 1945, are buried here.
The cemetery was established in 1961, not far from the former border with the Democratic Republic of Germany. It was meant to be not only a war cemetery but also a symbolic Western German anti-communist site. The site is also the final resting place for residents of Hessen. The area is surrounded by a stone wall. Opposite the entrance, there is a large cross with headstones (that bear the names of those buried here) on both of its sides.
In 2008, an information board was placed in the cemetery that provides some information about the site and the deceased. The cemetery is very well preserved
Cemetery address: Witzenhausen, Hesse
37214 Witzenhausen
GPS: 51.316954,9.914075
Cemetery administration: Volksbund Regionalstelle Hessen Nord,
www.volksbund.de/hessen/bildungsangebote/lernortkgs/lernortludwigstein.html,
hessen.nord@volksbund.de,
Werner-Hilpert-Straße 4, 34117 Kassel,
+49 561 7009 - 103
