Lommel German war cemetery is located at in the municipality of Lommel, Belgium. It is the largest German military cemetery in Western Europe outside Germany itself. German soldiers who died during the World War II on the territory of Belgium rest here. In addition, there is a smaller number of soldiers buried who died during the First World War. Figures The site has 16 ha and more than 39,000 soldiers from the Second World War are buried here. They are mostly coming from collective cemeteries in Henri-Chapelle, Fossé, Overrepen and . They were temporarily buried there by the American Battle Monuments Commission and then transferred to Lommel in 1946 and 1947. Since 1946, when the Belgian government started the construction of the cemetery, all German soldiers from the Second World War who were found on Belgian territory were buried here. Additionally, 483 soldiers from the First World War came from a soldiers' cemetery in Leopoldsburg. As of 2016, a total of 39,108 people was known to be buried here. The number has slightly increased over time because the remains of missing victims were found. On 21 September 2019, the International Day of Peace, three unknown soldiers were buried in memory of 75 years of liberation and the 100th anniversary of the German War Graves Commission. On this special occasion, a "peace bell" was also cast, which was then placed in the courtyard in front of the crypt. The casualties from World War II mainly died during the following campaigns: Eighteen Day Campaign (10–28 May 1940) 3 Battles of Aachen (13 September – 10 December 1944) Battle of the Hürtgen Forest (19 September 1944 – 10 February 1945) Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 30 January 1945) Operation Lumberjack (in the night of 7 to 8 March 1945) Arrangement of the graveyard In 1952 the cemetery was handed over to the German War Graves Commission – Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V., by the means of a War Graves Agreement. They planted and furnished the cemetery. Due to the many excavations, the soil structure was largely destroyed, resulting in a desert-like soil surface. As a result, in windy weather, the sand was blown over the cemetery in large clouds of dust. In 1953, the restoration of the soil was started by supplying large quantities of peat and forest soil; in addition, thousands of trees, shrubs and erikas were planted. An earthen