War cemetery Burg

Because of the proximity to the Dolomites front several military hospitals were opened in San Candido in 1914-1989 during the First World War. So many wounded and sick soldiers died there that they could no longer be buried in the cemetery of the collegiate church. Mayor Josef Baumgartner therefore asked the Imperial and Royal Borders Commando No. 10 to create an own inter-faith military cemetery. In the summer of 1915 the work was started and at the end of July the first soldiers were laid to rest in the cemetery. On 12 March 1916 the cemetery and the chapel were consecrated by divisional priest Anton Pircher and formally opened by Major General Karl Englert. By November 1918 over 700 known soldiers were buried there in individual graves, among them members of the Imperial and Royal Army, Italian, Russian, Romanian and Serbian prisoners of war and Bosniacs, as well as many unknown soldiers interred in a mass grave.

When in 1916 San Candido was bombarded with grenades and Services in the collegiate church and in the Franciscan monastery church became too risky, Holy Mass and other Worship was moved to the chapel of the military cemetery. Between the wars the parish and the Italian War Graves Commission (C.O.S.C.G.) looked after the cemetery, and in 1927 a special Cemetery Commission was set up for this purpose. In October 1934 the State ordered for the Italian prisoners of war to be exhumed and to be interred in the ossuary Pocol near Cortina.

Following the options agreement between Germany and Italy and after the cemetery was already officially decommissioned by the Italian War Graves Commission in 1941, 181 victims of war were exhumed and re-interred in the war cemeteries in Varna/Bressanone (92), Croda Bagnata (68), San Giacomo/Bolzano (11), Merano (8), Passo Pordoi (2). The remaining crosses and the chapel disappeared over a period of time and vegetation covered the levelled field of graves.

Thanks to the efforts of the Franciscan Father Brother Siegfried Volgger, and with the help of the renowned Regiment "Schützen Hofmark Innichen”, the war cemetery Burg was restored during 2002/04 and the chapel rebuilt. On 28 August 2004 the restored cemetery was formally consecrated by Suffragan Bishop Dr. Franz Lackner OFM of Graz. The hallmarks of the war cemetery “Burg” in San Candido and its charm are its simplicity and cared for appearance.

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