Cimitero militare di Dobbiaco

The Nasswand war cemetery near Dobbiaco preserves the memory of soldiers who died during the First World War. Its many nationalities reflect both the wartime medical station beside which it originated and the later reorganisation of military burial grounds in South Tyrol.

Why it matters

The cemetery gives a human dimension to the history of the mountain front. The burial register records Russian, Serbian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian and other nationalities, as well as unidentified dead; they should not all be understood as members of a single national army.

What to notice

The graves form a collective memorial within the Alpine landscape. The variety of names and origins recalls the wide geographical reach of the war and the different lives brought together at this burial ground.

Context and history

An Austrian main dressing station operated opposite the cemetery between 1915 and 1917. Those who died there were buried nearby without distinction of nationality. Between 1926 and 1938, military authorities consolidated smaller cemeteries: German dead were transferred elsewhere, while remains of other nationalities were brought to Nasswand. The cemetery contains 1,259 burials and is protected as a historic monument.