Footsteps of WWII · The Netherlands
Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten
Cemetery · 1944–1945
The story
The only American war cemetery in the Netherlands lies beside the old Roman road east of Maastricht, in the first part of the country to be liberated, in September 1944. It holds more than 8,000 American dead, many from the US Ninth Army's fighting in the Rhineland and the advance into Germany, as well as from Market Garden and the air war. The Tablets of the Missing list 1,722 names. Since 1945 local families have adopted graves and names, visiting and laying flowers; today every grave has an adopter, and there is a waiting list. The cemetery was dedicated in 1960 and opened by Queen Juliana.
What to look for
A long approach through a court of honour with the Tablets of the Missing, a tall memorial tower and chapel, and beyond them sixteen plots of white marble crosses and Stars of David on a broad lawn. A visitor building at the entrance tells the story.
Plan your visit
Free. Open daily 09:00–17:00; closed 25 December and 1 January. Staff in the visitor building can help locate graves. About 10 km east of Maastricht on the N278.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Fort Eben-Emael · 10 km
- Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery · 15 km
- Museum Hürtgenwald 1944, Vossenack · 42 km
- December 44 Historical Museum, La Gleize · 45 km
- Baugnez: Malmedy massacre memorial · 50 km
- St Vith · 65 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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