The Austro-Hungarian military cemetery of Bolzano (in German Österreichischer Soldatenfriedhof St. Jakob/Bozen) is a war cemetery along the state road, near the locality of San Giacomo (St. Jakob), next to the Italian military cemetery.
What to see
In the cemetery enclosure a total of 3938 fallen are buried, of whom 1502 soldiers of the First World War; in an adjacent plot rest also 142 German fallen of the Second World War. The graves are marked by crosses and by headstones, individual and collective, and by other monuments. In the centre of the cemetery stands the chapel of Mary Help of Christians (in German Maria-Hilf-Kapelle), in Neo-Romanesque style, erected in 1897 to a design by Johann Bittner, the same architect as the church of the Sacred Heart in Bolzano.
The cemetery, the oldest military cemetery in the province of Bolzano, arose in 1874 on the so-called Telseracker at the wish of the Militärveteranenverein Bozen, the association of war veterans of Bolzano, with the aim of burying the Austro-Hungarian fallen of the Austro-Piedmontese war of 1848 and the Austro-Prussian war of 1866. Later the Austro-Hungarian fallen of the First World War and veterans who died afterwards were also buried there. In 1917 the cemetery was deeply reworked and enlarged by Gustav Nolte, city architect of Bolzano. Today the whole complex is looked after by the Verein zur Pflege des Soldatenfriedhofes St. Jakob/Bozen, the association for the care of the San Giacomo military cemetery.
Visiting
The cemetery is at San Giacomo, along the state road, in Bolzano; opening hours and access should be checked, because the sources consulted do not give them. It is a burial place, so it is visited in silence and with respect.
Our editors' tip
Look at the Neo-Romanesque chapel of Mary Help of Christians in the middle of the cemetery, and remember that the same architect, Johann Bittner, also designed the church of the Sacred Heart in Bolzano.
