N53 12.040 W6 17.536 - German War Cemetery, Glencree

14th March 2011 - Monday

So to-day, in between work and school runs myself and my husband Ciaran went out on the first expedition in search of the German War Cemetery in Glencree County Wicklow.  We had been in Glencree several times throughout the years but I knew nothing of the German War Cemetery.... but of course Ciaran was different....He's an ex boy-scout and cub leader and knows all the 'off the beaten track' places around Wicklow.

We headed South on what was a very dull day and stopped for a quick lunch in Enniskerry before heading to seek out the cemetery.  As you approach the Glencree Reconciliation Centre the German War Cemetery is signposted on the bend in the road overlooking one of the most beautiful views of Wicklow.

 

The entrance is marked with an engraved stone plinth set into a stone wall.  The engraving says ‘DEUTSCHER KRIEGSFRIEDHOF’ 1914/18 + 1939/45.  As you walk through the metal picket gate, a stone path leads to the graveyard.  You immediately get the feeling that this is a place which is well cared for and loved.  In the background you can hear the flow of water through the trees. 

As you step into the graveyard there is an overall sense of order and beauty.  The graves are arranged in a series of semicircles facing a curved stone altar type shelter which has a beautiful etching in gold of the pieta.  Each grave is marked with a tablet type stone on each of which there was placed a nightlight candle.  Behind each stone was a small dugout hole into which was placed a small living flower.  It was evident that someone somewhere is caring for these graves with extreme love and care.

The back wall of the cemetery is sheer cliff rock with an imposing celtic cross standing guard.  The cliffwall creates a strange intimacy somehow nestling and protecting its residents. 

Every so often two low stone crosses stood together over the graves which gave the feeling of company and comfort.  Like two lovers watching over their care….

We came across one grave which had the stone recently cleaned….as if someone had cleaned it in order to take a clearer photograph……. Scattered on the low vegetation beyond this stone was what looked like ashes…..we could only wonder......

 

The flow of the Glencree River running over lichen covered boulders creates pleasant background music while you explore the cemetery.  Again this area has been lanscaped with care with a wooden boardwalk which gives you a viewing point and photo-opportunity. 

We climbed to the top of the quarry wall to where the stone celtic cross is located.  From this point you can get magnificent views of the country-side.  The photos capture in the foreground the Hall of Honour with its oval blue roof which houses a gold mosaic pieta designed by a Munich painter Berlz.

  

As you leave the cemetery to the right there is a stone seat where many must have sat throughout the years in quiet contemplation of all they have seen. 

To the left is a fabulous view of the tree lined road winding its way through the countryside.  I could not think of a better resting place for the young men who lost their lives alone and so far from home.  Here they lie with friends cosseted deep in the womb of the Wicklow countryside.

Leaving the graveyard I was left with wonder as to how could there be so many graves of German soldiers or war victims here in this one place in Ireland?  An Ireland…which was neutral during the war.  

When we returned home I found the Glencree Reconciliation Centre website (http://www.glencree.ie/site/history.htm ) held the answer to who is buried in the cemetery.  

In total the Cemetery contains 134 bodies which include, Luftwaffe (Air force) personnel who died as a result of navigation failure, running out of fuel, bad weather and crashing as well as regular naval personnel (Kriegmarine) who were found washed up on the shores.  Amazingly 53 of the Airforce and Naval personnel buried in the cemetery have names – 28 of the graves honour unnamed soldiers. 

The website also told the story of a single individual cross situated at the back right hand side of the cemetery.  It is a memorial to Dr. Hermann Gortz who ‘took his own life to avoid arrest as a spy’.  

It also tells us that six of the graves contain the bodies of World War 1 soldiers who died in a British prisoner of war camp in Ireland.

The graves were centralised after the war in Glencree in an initiative which brought together fallen Germans from 59 graves which were originally located in different places accross 15 counties throughout Ireland.

But what of the other 46 people buried in the cemetery?

The following link (http://www.glencree.ie/site/documents/TheGermanMilitaryCemetery.doc) holds the answer.  These 46 men were civilian victims of the Arandora Star which was a British registered cruise ship which was hit by a German U-Boat torpedo and sunk 75 miles off the coast of North West Donegal on the 2^nd July 1940.  The ship was carrying German and Italian civilian detainees who were in the process of being shipped from England to Canada for internment. 

By googling The Arandora Star you can find numerous links which give an excellent insight into what happened on that fateful day in July 1940 (http://digital.nls.uk/scotlandspages/timeline/1940.html).  Many more than 46 German people died on that day…. The 46 German bodies buried in the Glencree cemetery, I expect honour all of the German national who lost their lives that morning.