Footsteps of WWII · Normandy
La Cambe German war cemetery
Cemetery · Jun 1944 – 1961
The story
La Cambe holds 21,222 German servicemen, the largest German war cemetery in Normandy. It began on 10 June 1944 as a battlefield cemetery laid out by the US 607th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company, with American and German dead in neighbouring fields. After the war the American dead were repatriated or moved to Colleville, and Germans were gathered here from about 1,400 field graves across Normandy. The Volksbund, the German war graves commission, maintains it. Among the dead is Tiger commander Michael Wittmann, killed with his crew on 8 August 1944 and found in 1983.
What to look for
Flat stone grave markers, each usually for two men, lie among groups of dark basalt crosses. A grassy mound in the centre, topped by a large cross and figures, covers a mass grave of 207 unknown and 89 identified soldiers. A peace garden of maple trees and a small information centre are by the entrance.
Plan your visit
Free; the cemetery is open at all times. Small information centre by the car park, just off the N13 near the La Cambe exit.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Pointe du Hoc · 7 km
- Omaha Beach: Les Braves, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer · 11 km
- Overlord Museum, Colleville-sur-Mer · 12 km
- Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer · 13 km
- Utah Beach Museum, Sainte-Marie-du-Mont · 13 km
- Sainte-Mère-Église and the Airborne Museum · 22 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
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