The American Kinderfeld, or Children’s Cemetery, has a long and varied history. This is a short summary. At present, we have the names of the 695 children who were buried here over the years, but only 178 gravestones. Frankfurt was home to many military troops as part of the American Occupation Forces after the end of the war in 1945, but until 1946, not very many families were living here. In 194
6, things were changing and babies began being born at 97th General Hospital (today the American Consulate location) Sadly, not all of them made it. It seems to have been military policy at this time that the government would not pay for the transport of remains if a child was less than 2 years old at the time of death. The 1st record we have of a child's burial is 13 June 1946. There were more babies buried here that year. As more women and families came to Frankfurt, and more babies were born, the need arose for a special burial spot for those babies who were stillborn or died at a young age, so a decision was made to set aside an area in the Frankfurt City Cemetery for the burials of these tiny American babies, for those families who could not afford to pay for the transport themselves. The need for this special burial space was requested by the military from the City of Frankfurt. Though records exist of all the babies buried here, including names, date of birth, date of death, and if they were still-born, records show that sections V, XI, XXIV, & XVI were used in the cemetery from the period of 1946-1957, and many were buried in the Urnenfeld, a section usually used for cremations. In the section where the Kinderfeld is presently located, Gewand XIV, the first burial took place in 1957. In 1962, the Commanding Officer submitted a formal request for space for 88 grave plots, to be used from 1962-1982. Price to be paid was 5,200.00 DM. Unfortunately, the Kinderfeld was often neglected and not well-tended. In Dec. 1959, an article was printed in a local military weekly newspaper, called “The American Weekend” telling about its’ desolate state, and other news sources took note. The article was published in newspapers in the US and in Germany. Immediately, military units from the whole Rhine-Main area all began contributing time and money to improve the condition. The publication date was 5.12.1959. The size of the Kinderfeld was reduced by half, in 1978, and the few gravestones that were in the rear section were moved forward, where they are today. In 1982, the local Boy Scout troops made wooden crosses for 63 graves. We have an article from the paper describing this, but we don’t know which newspaper it was, though probably the Stars and Stripes. In 1984, the International Women's Club of Frankfurt, decided to replace the 63 wooden crosses which were now rotting and falling over, with headstones. They also had a large, white, stone memorial created, which is still located in the Kinderfeld. Until this time, they had been active in caring for the Kinderfeld and raising the money for the stones. We don't know when they stopped caring for the Kinderfeld, though members have told me that considerable funds were given to the USO for the lease and care of the Kinderfeld in 1999. We have records of the ceremony at the Kinderfeld when this transfer of care and funds took place. By 1987, burials had basically stopped, though the last child to be buried here was Dustin Rhodes, on 11 Aug. 1992. Finally, in 2000, the Kinderfeld was reduced in size again, making it one-fourth of its’ original size. Any stones that were in the rear section were brought forward and added to the ones that were already there. The city of Frankfurt has declared this to be a historic memorial and pays for basic care. This care is only mowing the grass. Any other care needs to come from the American community. The cemetery office recommends that the headstones be cleaned only with plain water and a brush and that the planted area in front of the white memorial be planted with seasonal flowers so that it looks well-tended. Ideally, this would be planted and weeded several times a year. Suggested would be a spring planting, a summer planting and a fall-winter covering. American Flags have often been set out by various groups for the 4th of July, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day, but the Cemetery office has requested that it would be better to place them in the flower area and not on the individual graves. Otherwise, they need to be removed a week later so that the grass can be mowed. If your troop or group has done some work here, please get in touch with us, so that we can add you to the history of the Kinderfeld and add you to the care schedule. On occasion a group has shown up to rake, clean, and plant and another group had been there the day before. We want to coordinate this effort. If you are from the press and would like more information, please leave a message so that we can contact you or email Jo Ator. [email protected]
https://american-kinderfeld-frankfurt.webnode.com/
There is an additional Kinderfeld in Kaiserslautern. Kinderfeld in Kaiserslautern
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