Eichendorffschule Wolfsburg

Glencree

Glencree in County Wicklow is Ireland’s only German military cemetery and commemorates the terrible events of the First and Second World War.

The cemetery was established by the German War Graves Commission between 1959 and 1961 in a disused quarry. 100 dead were gradually transferred to this cemetery from various gravesites throughout Ireland.

134 German dead from both World Wars are buried here, mainly members of the German Air Force and Navy, but also prisoners of war.

Although Ireland was neutral in the war, it was affected by the war. Many soldiers of the German Luftwaffe died over Ireland and off the coast as they went off course due to bad weather or crashed over Ireland for other reasons.

Sailors of the German merchant marine are also buried here, their bodies washed up on Ireland’s shores.

Of the 81 Luftwaffe and Navy soldiers buried here, 28 still remain unknown to this day.

The German spy Dr Hermann Görtz, who committed suicide in 1947 before being extradited to Germany, was also reburied here. You can get more information at his individual grave at the back of the cemetery.

In addition, six First World War prisoners lie here, too.

Also buried here are 46 German passengers of the wrecked Arandora Star. For more information, see the next QR code.


The text was researched and compiled by Paul Köhne, student at Eichendorffschule Wolfsburg, Germany, during a school project 2023. The Eichendorffschule is responsible for it and takes care that the information does not violate the basic democratic idea.