The Invalids' Cemetery (german: Invalidenfriedhof) is one of the oldest cemeteries in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. It was the traditional resting place of the Prussian Army, and is regarded as particularly important as a memorial to the German Wars of Liberation of 1813–15.

History

The cemetery was established in 1748 to provide burial grounds for those

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

s wounded in the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's ...

, who inhabited a nearby hostel (''Invalidenhaus'') built on the orders of King

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

. A royal decree of 1824 declared that the ''Invalidenfriedhof'' should become the burial ground for all distinguished Prussian military personnel, including Bogislav Count Tauentzien von Wittenberg. One of the most notable tombs from this period is that of

Gerhard von Scharnhorst Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst (12 November 1755 – 28 June 1813) was a Hanoverian-born general in Prussian service from 1801. As the first Chief of the Prussian General Staff, he was noted for his military theories, his reforms of the Pr ...

(a hero of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

), designed by Schinkel with a sculpture of a slumbering lion cast out of captured cannon by Rauch. The cemetery was also the resting place of the soldiers killed during the

Revolutions of 1848 in the German states In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. By 1872, approximately 18,000 funerals had taken place in the cemetery. Numerous commanders and officers who fought in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, such as

Max Hoffmann Carl Adolf Maximilian Hoffmann (25 January 1869 – 8 July 1927) was a German military strategist. As a staff officer at the beginning of World War I, he was Deputy Chief of Staff of the 8th Army, soon promoted Chief of Staff. Hoffmann, along w ...

, Helmuth von Moltke,

Ludwig von Falkenhausen Ludwig Alexander Friedrich August Philipp Freiherr von Falkenhausen (13 September 1844 – 4 May 1936) was a German officer most notable for his activities during World War I. Before World War I Falkenhausen was born in Guben. His parents were ...

and

Karl von Bülow Karl Wilhelm Paul von Bülow (24 March 1846 – 31 August 1921) was a German field marshal commanding the German 2nd Army during World War I from 1914 to 1915. Biography Born in Berlin to the distinguished Prussian military family von Bülow ...

, were buried in the cemetery, along with several high-ranking members of the

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...

. The body of

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...

(the 'Red Baron') was transferred to the cemetery in 1925 from his original grave in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. During the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

, high-ranking military personnel such as

Hans von Seeckt Johannes "Hans" Friedrich Leopold von Seeckt (22 April 1866 – 27 December 1936) was a German military officer who served as Chief of Staff to August von Mackensen and was a central figure in planning the victories Mackensen achieved for Germany ...

continued to be buried in the cemetery, but approximately half the graves were gardened over in this period. During the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, a number of senior figures were buried in the Invalid's Cemetery, including former Army Supreme Commander

Werner von Fritsch Thomas Ludwig Werner Freiherr von Fritsch (4 August 1880 – 22 September 1939) was a member of the German High Command. He was Commander-in-Chief of the German Army from February 1934 until February 1938, when he was forced to resign after he ...

, fighter ace

Werner Mölders Werner Mölders (18 March 1913 – 22 November 1941) was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot, wing commander, and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. He became the first pilot in aviation history to shoot down 10 ...

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

commander Ernst Udet, Munitions Minister

Fritz Todt Fritz Todt (; 4 September 1891 – 8 February 1942) was a German construction engineer and senior Nazi who rose from the position of Inspector General for German Roadways, in which he directed the construction of the German autobahns (''Reichsa ...

, ''Reichsprotector'' of Bohemia and Moravia

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...

, Field Marshal

Walter von Reichenau Walter Karl Ernst August von Reichenau (8 October 1884 – 17 January 1942) was a field marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Reichenau commanded the 6th Army, during the invasions of Belgium and France. During Operation ...

, Colonel General

Curt Haase Curt Haase (15 December 1881 – 9 February 1943) was a German general (''Generaloberst'') in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He commanded the III Corps during the Invasion of Poland and France. He later commanded the 15th Army in German-occu ...

and General

Rudolf Schmundt Rudolf Schmundt (13 August 1896 – 1 October 1944) was a German officer and adjutant to Adolf Hitler. Between 1942 and 1944, he was chief of the German Army Personnel Office. Schmundt was injured during the 20 July 1944 assassination attempt o ...

, who was an adjutant to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

killed in the 20 July plot by the bomb intended for Hitler. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the Allies ordered that all Nazi monuments (including those in cemeteries) should be removed, and this resulted in the removal of the grave-markers of Heydrich and Todt, although their remains were not disinterred. In May 1951, the East Berlin city council closed the cemetery off to the public so that repairs and restoration could be carried out, and to prevent any further damage of the graves. Since it lay close to the Berlin Wall, in the 1960s over a third of the cemetery was destroyed to make way for watch towers, troop barracks, roads and parking lots. Some of the graves were damaged by gunfire from soldiers guarding the wall. The degradation of the cemetery continued in the 1970s, when soldiers stationed nearby began to use abandoned or damaged gravestones to build shelters in case of bad weather. It was probably only the fact that the cemetery contained the graves of German freedom fighters like Scharnhorst, regarded by the East German

National People's Army The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) a ...

as its forerunners, that prevented its total destruction. Invalidenfriedhof (3)

After German reunification in 1990 the cemetery came under the monument protection scheme and restoration work began. There is now a memorial to Berliners killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall in the cemetery. The cemetery also contains an unmarked mass grave of Berliners killed in allied Air Raids. In December 2019 the unmarked grave of Reinhard Heydrich in the cemetery was opened, with police launching an investigation after a cemetery employee made the discovery. Stating that no remains had been removed, the police believe that whoever violated Heydrich's grave is thought to have had inside knowledge of its location.

Notable individuals

In chronological order (a fuller alpha-list is at :Burials at the Invalids' Cemetery): * 1757 - Hans Karl von Winterfeldt * 1813 -

Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst (12 November 1755 – 28 June 1813) was a Hanoverian-born general in Prussian service from 1801. As the first Chief of the Prussian General Staff, he was noted for his military theories, his reforms of the Pru ...

* 1824 - Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel Graf Tauentzien von Wittenberg * 1837 - Job von Witzleben *1841 - Gustav von Rauch * 1843 (d.1814) - Karl Friedrich Friesen * 1848 - Karl Friedrich von dem Knesebeck * 1848 -

Hermann von Boyen Leopold Hermann Ludwig von Boyen (20 June 1771 – 15 February 1848) was a Prussian army officer who helped to reform the Prussian Army in the early 19th century. He also served as minister of war of Prussia in the period 1810-1813 and later agai ...

*1850 - Friedrich Wilhelm von Rauch * 1856 - August Hiller von Gaertringen * 1878 -

Therese Elssler Therese Elssler (german: link=no, Theresia Elßler; 5 April 1808, Vienna - 19 November 1878, Merano) was a dancer. The sisters Therese and Fanny Elssler were both dancers, the former born in 1808, the latter in 1810, both in the Vienna suburb ...

(later Therese von Barnim) * 1881 - Karl Julius von Groß (later von Groß von Schwarzhoff) *1892 -

Fedor von Rauch Fedor Alexander Gustav von Rauch (8 August 1822 in Berlin - 15 January 1892) was a cavalry officer in the Prussian Army and son of the Prussian Minister of War and general of the infantry Gustav von Rauch. Biography Fedor von Rauch was born i ...

*1899 - Friedrich Wilhelm von Rauch *1890 - Gustav Waldemar von Rauch *1900 - Alfred Bonaventura von Rauch *1901 -

Albert von Rauch Born into an aristocratic Prussian family, Albert Gustav Guido von Rauch (21 August 1829 – 28 January 1901) was a general of the infantry in the Prussian Army who fought in the Austro-Prussian War and Franco-Prussian War. Life He was born in ...

* 1909 - Friedrich von Holstein * 1910 -

Julius von Verdy du Vernois Adrian Friedrich Wilhelm Julius Ludwig von Verdy du Vernois (19 July 1832 – 30 September 1910), often given the short name of Verdy, was a German general and staff officer, chiefly noted both for his military writings and his service on ...

* 1913 -

Alfred von Schlieffen Graf Alfred von Schlieffen, generally called Count Schlieffen (; 28 February 1833 – 4 January 1913) was a German field marshal and strategist who served as chief of the Imperial German General Staff from 1891 to 1906. His name lived on in t ...

* 1914 - Karl von Schönberg * 1916 - Helmuth Johannes Ludwig von Moltke * 1917 -

Moritz von Bissing Moritz Ferdinand Freiherr von Bissing (30 January 1844 – 18 April 1917) was a German officer from Prussia. Life and pre-WWI army career Bissing was born at Ober Bellmannsdorf in the Province of Silesia. He was the son of Moritz von Bissing, ...

* 1917 - Maximilian von Prittwitz und Gaffron * 1918 - Hans-Joachim Buddecke * 1918 - Hermann von Eichhorn * 1918 -

Olivier Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay Leutnant Olivier Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay (14 September 1898 – 26 October 1918) was a German World War I flying ace, ace fighter pilot credited with 25 victories. Having joined the military at age 16, his success in shooting down 13 enemy ...

* 1919 - Robert von Klüber * 1920 -

Rudolf Berthold Oskar Gustav Rudolf Berthold (24 March 1891 – 15 March 1920) was a German flying ace of World War I. Between 1916 and 1918, he shot down 44 enemy planes—16 of them while flying one-handed. Berthold's perseverance, bravery, and willingness t ...

* 1921 -

Hans Hartwig von Beseler Hans Hartwig von Beseler (27 April 1850 – 20 December 1921) was a German colonel general. Biography Beseler was born in Greifswald, Pomerania. His father Georg Beseler, was a law professor at the University of Greifswald. He entered the ...

* 1921 -

* 1923 -

Ernst Troeltsch Ernst Peter Wilhelm Troeltsch (; ; 17 February 1865 – 1 February 1923) was a German liberal Protestant theologian, a writer on the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of history, and a classical liberal politician. He was a member of ...

* 1925-1975 (d.1918) - Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen * 1926 -

Wolf Wilhelm Friedrich von Baudissin Wolf Wilhelm Friedrich Graf von Baudissin (26 September 1847 – 6 February 1926) was a German Protestant theologian who was a native of Sophienhof, near Kiel. Education Baudissin studied theology and Oriental studies at Berlin, Erlangen, Leipz ...

* 1926 -

Josias von Heeringen Josias von Heeringen (9 March 1850 – 9 October 1926) was a German general of the imperial era who served as Prussian Minister of War and saw service in the First World War. Early life Heeringen was born in Kassel in the Electorate of Hesse ...

* 1927 -

* 1928 -

Ulrich Neckel Ulrich Neckel (23 January 1898 – 11 May 1928) Pour le Mérite, Iron Cross First and Second Class, was a World War I fighter ace credited with 30 victories. Early life and enlistment Ulrich Neckel was born in Güstrow, part of the Grand Duc ...

* 1933 - Hans Maikowski * 1933 - Werner von Frankenberg und Proschlitz * 1933 -

Ludwig von Schröder Ludwig von Schröder (17 July 1854 Hintzenkamp near Eggesin – 23 July 1933 in Berlin-Halensee) was an Imperial German Navy officer and Admiral during the First World War and a recipient of the ''Pour le Mérite'' with Oak Leaves. Schröder e ...

*1935 - Friedrich von Rauch * 1936 -

* 1936 -

* 1937 - Adolf Karl von Oven * 1938 - Rochus Schmidt * 1939 -

Oskar von Watter Oskar Walther Gerhard Julius Freiherr von Watter (born 2 September 1861 in Ludwigsburg; died 23 August 1939 in Berlin) was a German ''Generalleutnant'' who came from an old Pomeranian noble family. World War I In April 1913, von Watter took ...

* 1939 -

* 1940 - Wolff von Stutterheim * 1941 - Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière * 1941 -

Friedrich-Carl Cranz __NOTOC__ Friedrich-Carl Cranz (14 November 1886 – 24 March 1941) was a German general during World War II who commanded 18th Infantry Division. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Cranz was killed 24 March 1941 in a tr ...

* 1941 - Ernst Udet * 1941 -

* 1942 -

* 1942 - Herbert Geitner * 1942 -

* 1942 -

Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen General Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen (born Hermann Thomsen; 10 March 1867 – 5 May 1942) was a German military aviation pioneer, a senior air commander in the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I, and a founding father of the Ger ...

* 1942 -

* 1942 - Carl August von Gablenz * 1943 -

* 1944 -

Hans-Valentin Hube Hans-Valentin Hube (29 October 1890 – 21 April 1944) was a German general during World War II who commanded armoured forces in the invasions of Poland, France and the Soviet Union. In the course of the war, Hube led the 16th Infantry Divisi ...

* 1944 -

* 1945 - Walter Marienfeld

External links

3d art project "Ghost - Memory Deconstructed" on the Invalid's Cemetery in Berlin

References

* Thoms, Robert, ''Invalidenfriedhof Berlin'' Hamburg, 1999 * Laurenz Demps, C. Scheer, H.-J. Mende, ''Invalidenfriedhof. Ein Friedhofsführer''. Simon, Berlin 2007, . {{Authority control Cemeteries in Berlin Prussian Army