German Charnel House in Tolmin

40 min.

In the years 1936–1938 the German state built a charnel house on the location of the former military cemetery with 931 graves. The building received mortal remains of about 1,000 German soldiers who were killed on the battlefields along the Soča in the Twelfth Isonzo Battle. The building materials for the construction of this significant cultural-historical and architectural monument were transported from South Tyrol. The work was done by a German building company from Munich. The charnel house is enclosed with a stone wall and is accessible through an iron gate, made of Austrian and Italian barrels. It is constructed of stone blocks, has a steep pent roof, and a porch from which the entrance leads into the central part of the monument, the chapel. The interior of the chapel is divided with a wrought-iron latticework into two compartments. In the first one, the names of the fallen soldiers are inscribed on oak slabs, and in the other, in a gilded mosaic. In the centre of the room, there is a tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Below this room there is a tomb with the relics of the fallen. The German Charnel House is the only location in the area of the Isonzo Front where a larger number of German soldiers are buried.

Boštjan Burger 360° Surround Photography

Register of the Fallen Soldiers

Photos: Jure Batagelj, Fundacija Poti miru