“Franzosenfriedhof”

The French Cemetery is one of the few remaining military cemeteries in Germany from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871. 248 French prisoners of war from the Friedrichsfeld camp were buried here. To commemorate them, the fellow prisoners erected a memorial on the burial ground with the inscription: 'In memory of the French soldiers who died in 1870/71. Built by their compatriots'. This memorial now stands in the western area of the cemetery.  During World War I 1914/1918, the cemetery served as a burial place for prisoners of war of various nationalities from the Friedrichsfeld prison camp. In their memory, prisoners of war from seven European nations built the monumental red sandstone memorial in the center of the cemetery in 1916.

The translation of the text on the front reads: "Lord, give them eternal rest and perpetual light shine upon them. In 1916, their comrades erected this memorial with great reverence to commemorate the allies who, after bravely fighting, are lying here abroad. A wreath reads "Duty, Honor, Fatherland!"  On the back it says (in 4 languages): "This monument was erected by the Belgian, British, French, Italian, Russian, Serbian and Portuguese soldiers to commemorate their comrades who died in captivity."  The soldiers from France, Belgium, Italy and Portugal were reburied in their home countries in 1922/23, the English dead in a cemetery in Cologne. The graves of the Russian and Serbian deceased, as well as those of the deceased French prisoners from the 1870/1871 war are still there.

During the Second World War, all deceased forced laborers from the area of ​​today's city of Voerde were buried here. Children who died in the Buschmannshof camp in Voerde also found their final resting place here.