Eichendorffschule Wolfsburg

Kurt Tiggemann

This cemetery is the resting place of German soldiers who lost their lives in combat in or over the Irish Sea during the Second World War, so did Kurt Tiggemann.

He was born on 20th April 1922 in Munscheid near Bochum, Germany. He was only 17 years old when he joined the air force in 1939. He served there as a lieutenant until his early death on 11th October 1941.

An evaluation note from the lieutenant colonel and commander of Training Group II, dated 26th May 1941, states of him.

“Mentally well-disposed, thinks independently. Open, honest character. Faultless behaviour. Showed good aeronautical performance. His behaviour in fighter plane is calm and safe. Popular comrade.”

“Fighter pilot” is given as a suggested use.

Kurt Tiggemann‘s aircraft, a HE Heinkel 111, crashed during an enemy flight on 11th October 1941 over the Blackstairs Mountains between the Counties Carlow and Wexford, Ireland. He was just 19 years old at that time.

Together with the young lieutenant, three other German soldiers died.

Private Ehrfried Kolwe (20 years old)
Sergeant Wilhelm Böhmer (26 years old) and
Corporal Hans Szuflita (26 years)

At first the four soldiers were buried in Rathnure Cemetery, County Wexford.

In 1958, this cemetery in Glencree was planned as a common final resting place for German soldiers in Ireland. In 1961, the transfer of the graves from Rathnure was made possible.

For their final resting place all four soldiers were buried next to each other. (Graves 16–19)

All were highly skilled airmen who died far too early. In a letter three months after Kurt Tiggemann‘s crash, his parents were informed that their son had met his death near Wexford, Ireland.

“The Wehrmacht Information Centre regrets to inform you, that according to a report now available here, your son, Lieutenant and pilot Kurt Tiggemann, born on 20.04.1922 in Wattenscheid, member of the Luftwaffe, died on 11th October 1941 a hero‘s death for Führer and Reich during an enemy flight.”

Nazi Germany lead a criminal war of aggression and extermination. The diction of Nazi propaganda should not make us forget that all fallen soldiers, were human beings who had families and loved ones who mourned them.

Their unique personalities and biographies were mercilessly erased.

In 1957 Kurt Tiggemann’s father, Ernst Tiggemann, a member of the German War Graves Commission arranged for the graves of the four soldiers to be decorated on rememberance day and his son’s grave additionally on his birthday.

Now Kurt Tiggemann rests under grave number 16.


The text was researched and compiled by Nadzeya Yasen und Julia Massold, students 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.