Isn’t it sobering to stand here, at the Budaörsi katonai temető és Emlékpark? This German-Hungarian military cemetery is not far from Budapest. It is west of the inhabited area of Budaörs. It sits next to the 8102 road that connects Budaörs with Budakeszi.
The Budaörsi katonai temető és Emlékpark is Hungary’s largest military cemetery. More than 17,000 soldiers rest here. These soldiers lost their lives during World War II’s Hungarian operations.
This war cemetery was created to mirror the British military cemetery in Solymár. It is a centrally located common cemetery. It preserves the memory of German and Hungarian soldiers. They fell in our country during World War II. Many of their remains are also here. Today, more than 16,300 German and about 800 Hungarian soldiers rest on about 6 hectares. Many died during Budapest’s siege between October 28, 1944, and February 13, 1945. Bodies were transferred here from other parts of the country. Approximately 1,400 locations were exhumed for this purpose.
The decision to establish a central German-Hungarian war cemetery was made in the early 1990s. Planning began in 1992. The Hungarian State offered the area for this purpose. The German War Graves Commission undertook the cemetery’s construction. Architects János Csongrádi and Margit Dékány designed the plans. They combined the cemetery with an adjacent peace park. Hundreds of saplings have been planted in the park since 1998. These came partly from donations and partly from the association’s members.
The cemetery was inaugurated on October 19, 2002. This was about ten years after the project began. Wilfried Gruber gave a speech at the opening. He was the German Ambassador to Hungary. He wished that this place would be a warning against war and forgetting. He hoped it would call for reconciliation, tolerance, and peace. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development later awarded the cemetery the “Pro Architectura” prize. This recognized its entire area and main building.
The German War Graves Commission is a humanitarian organization. It cares for German war graves outside Germany. It supports educational work and remembrance culture. They maintain 14 other war cemeteries in Hungary. The association places a list of names in each country’s central military cemetery. This lists all German war victims who died in that country. In Hungary, this memorial book is found here at the Budaörsi katonai temető.
Around 54,000 Germans died in Hungary during World War II. They died in bitter fighting against the Red Army. The location of the last resting place of 35,000 of them is now known. Just over 14,000 soldiers lie at the Budaörsi military cemetery.
Recently, nearly seventy German soldiers were reburied at the Budaörsi katonai temető és Békepark. The German War Graves Commission organized it. The Ministry of Defense supported it. The soldiers were exhumed from 19 Hungarian sites this year. The Budaörsi katonai temető és Emlékpark is the largest German military cemetery in Hungary. It contains the final resting place of 17,800 German and Hungarian soldiers. The names and dates of birth of 2,400 soldiers are listed. Their remains have not yet been found.