Futa Pass Cemetery
The GermanFuta Pass Cemetery(Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof Futapass;Cimitero militare germanico della Futa) is Italy's largestwar cemetery.According to theGerman War Graves Commissionit holds remains of 30,800 German soldiers who died in theSecond World War.It is located at the summit of theFuta Pass(Passo della Futa,903 m) in theApenninesand inMugello,near Traversa in the commune ofFirenzuola,that is, about 40 kilometers north ofFlorenceand 40 kilometers south ofBolognaalong National Highway Nr. 65 near the border ofTuscanyandEmilia-Romagna.
History
[edit]
The pass was part of theGothic Line,meant to stop the Allied advance. It was the site of bitter combat between 9 and 21 April 1945, but most of the interred fell in late August 1944 betweenCarraraon theLigurian Seaand the area surroundingRimini.
In the wake of the 22 December 1955 Accord on War Graves between theBRD& Italy[1]signed in Bonn and ratified by the Italian legislature 12 August 1957 as Law 801,[2]in 1959 the German War Graves Commission entrusted oversight of the project to the architectDieter Oesterlen.In the planning and execution he was assisted by thelandscape architectsWalter RossowandErnst Cramerand the sculptorHelmut Lander[de].Themetalworkwas byFritz Kühn.[3]
The reburied soldiers were collected from neighboringbattlefieldsandchurchyardsin the provinces ofBologna,Metropolitan Florence,Forlì-Cesena,Lucca,Modena,Pesaro and Urbino,Pisa,Pistoia,RavennaandReggio Emilia;[4]and a number of remains were also identified. With 30,683 graves it is the largest German cemetery in Italy.[4]
Cemetery and Monument
[edit]The cemetery covers 12 hectares[5]with 16,000graniteheadstones[5]on 72 natural lawns, enclosed by a spiral 2000 meter long wall with 67quarriedcrosses.[4]Each pair of graves is marked with a 70×140 cm stone.[3]The cemetery is capped by the pyramid-like peak at the end of the spiral wall. This last section of the wall encloses a "Court of Honor", beneath which is thecryptwith 397 graves. A smaller crypt, named the "Cervia Room", contains gravestones from the former war cemetery atCervia.The cemetery was dedicated on 28 June 1969.[4]
Gallery
[edit]-
Entrance -
Memorial wall of the crypt -
Cervia-Raumor small crypt
Bibliography
[edit]- Birgit Urmson:German and United States Second World War Military Cemeteries in Italy: Cultural Perspectives(Transatlantic Aesthetics and Culture Vol. 8) (Bern 2018,ISBN978-3-0343-3516-4pb.)
- Francesco Collotti:Il paesaggio dei caduti. Dieter Oesterlen, Cimitero militare germanico.(Online version at academia.edu)
References
[edit]- ^Abkommen vom 22. Dezember 1955 zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Italienischen Republik über Kriegsgräber
- ^LEGGE 12 agosto 1957, n. 801: Ratifica ed esecuzione dell’Accordo tra la Repubblica italiana e la Repubblica Federale di Germania sulle tombe di guerra con annessi scambi di Note, concluso in Bonn il 22 dicembre 1955.Retrieved 16 March 2014 (ital.)
- ^abFrancesco Collotti:Il paesaggio dei caduti. Dieter Oesterlen, Cimitero militare germanico.
- ^abcdvolksbund.de zum Futa-Pass.Retrieved 16 March 2014
- ^abarchitetturatoscana.it
External links
[edit]
- Futa Pass CemeteryatFind a Grave
- Abstract of Urmson monographat RIHA Journal
- Cimitero militare germanicoat architetturatoscana.it (in Italian)
- Volksbund: Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Futapass(in German)
