I went before to the big American War Cemetery in Margaten, and also a lot of small ones like Mierlo and Nederweert. But this is the only German War Cemetery in the Netherlands, and it is way bigger than the one I visited last year in Luxembourg.

The cemetery is close to the city of Venray and has free parking. On arrival you will walk through a path going from the parking lot towards the cemetery. On your left there is a visitor center with a restaurant. Before entering there is a sign about the liberation route of Ysselsteyn. On it, there is a QR code you can scan to listen to stories related to the war times.

When entering you will see a big informal mural with some more information about the site. Buried here are around 32,000 German soldiers, members of the SS and civilians, both German as well as people of other nationalities. Also including 550 Dutch collaborators and 87 German war casualities from World War I.

Most of the dead resting in Ysselsteyn died in action. Between 2,000 to 3,000 of the graves belong to those actively involved in war crimes. Something you will also see on display, the crimes against over 100,000 jews. The site educates in these war crimes, so that they never happen again.

Since 1976 the cemetery is handed over to Germany, who ever since maintain the grounds. It represents education of the past while promoting peace and understanding.