Historical Information (Source: Volksbund)

3,942 German war dead First World War

The German military cemetery Origny-St. Benoîte was created by the German troops in April 1917 after the Germans had returned to the Siegfried position in March, which was only 15-20 kilometers west of the village. This made Origny an important stopover with many hospitals. Almost 1,500 of those buried here lost their lives during the trench warfare in 1917. However, more than half died when the German offensive began in March 1918 and during the retreat and defensive battles in September and October 1918. A memorial erected by the troops is a reminder to the fallen of the 25th (Hessian) Division.

As a result of the bedding of around 2500 German war dead from 53 surrounding community areas within a radius of more than 20 kilometers by the French military authorities after the end of the war, several hundred German casualties from the fighting between the end of August and the beginning of September 1914 also ended up in this cemetery.