Stuttgart Waldfriedhof Air Raid Cemetery
Pictures and text by Mark R. Hatlie
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These pictures were taken on 8 November, 2005 at the Waldfriedhof in Stuttgart, Germany. It was a beautiful late morning, so the sunlight and long autumn shadows and colors both helped and hindered the work. A professional photographer could have done wonders with a day like that.
These graves and markers are near the center of the cemetery, close to the sections for the military fallen.
World War One Air Raid Victims
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There was apparently only one air raid with fatalities on Stuttgart during World War One. |
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The obeslisk reads "Erected in memory of the victims of the enemy air attack on 5 September, 1918 by the city of Stuttgart". |
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Several of the victims were Daunquarts. I assume their house was hit. |
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Lisl was three years old. |
World War Two Air Raid Victims
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The air attacks during the Second World War were obviously much more extensive and deadly. The greater distance from the front enjoyed by Stuttgart did not help in the age of long range heavy bombers. |
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This stone is for a 70 or 71-year-old woman and a four-year-old boy. Grandma and grandson? |
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This stone is for a Hausgemeinschaft - all the people from a single house. Perhaps it was some kind of communal apartment. Nine people were killed. |
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The candles are probably from All Saints' Day the week before. Someone had put a note in a plastic cover at the foot of one of the stones. It reads, "In quiet memory of the air raid victims who passed from life during the heavy bomber attacks on our city, especially the terror attacks of 25 to 26 July and 12 to 13 September, 1944 / Stuttgart, 13 Sept, 2005 / H. Loeffler". |
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