Footsteps of WWII · Belgium & Luxembourg
Recogne German war cemetery
Cemetery · Opened 4 Feb 1945
The story
The US Army opened a cemetery at Recogne, north of Bastogne, on 4 February 1945, burying about 2,700 Americans and over 3,000 Germans there. The American dead were later moved to Henri-Chapelle or repatriated, and the Belgian authorities concentrated German graves from field burials and local cemeteries here or at Lommel. Recogne now holds 6,807 German dead, most killed around Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge, together with men who died in 1940 or during the occupation. The cemetery passed to the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund) in the 1950s and reopened to the public in 1960 after refurbishment.
What to look for
Beyond the entrance building, rows of low grey stone crosses stand on lawn among trees. Compare its subdued atmosphere with the white headstones and open lawns of the American cemeteries at Henri-Chapelle and Hamm.
Plan your visit
Open-air cemetery, free to visit, just off the N30 about 4 km north of Bastogne. Opening arrangements could not be checked on the Volksbund website; check before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Bois Jacques foxholes, Foy · 2 km
- Bastogne War Museum · 4 km
- Mardasson Memorial, Bastogne · 4 km
- Bastogne Barracks (McAuliffe's HQ) · 5 km
- Houffalize and its Panther tank · 10 km
- National Museum of Military History, Diekirch · 36 km
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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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