German Charnel House at Pion Hill

The Germanic Ossuary of Pinzano al Tagliamento (or Germanic Mausoleum) is an unfinished building that was supposed to collect the remains of about 30,000 German and Austro-Hungarian soldiers who died during the First World War, in the battle of November 1, 1917.The idea dates back to 1937 at the behest of the Reich of Adolf Hitler who, thanks to the good relations with Mussolini's fascist Italy, had been able to buy these lands. The works, designed by the architect Robert Tischler (who had finished the Germanic Mausoleum of Quero), began in 1939 with 60 workers from the Marchioro company in Thiene. The initial design aimed at developing an itinerary that could allow the visitor to see, metaphorically speaking, the passing of the soldier's soul. The ossuary, in the forecasts, would have occupied about 3,420 square meters for a height of 10, partly covered and composed of blocks of stone, Verona marble, concrete and brick. The works continued for 5 years but in 1944, thanks to the events of World War II, they were interrupted. In fact, in that year what had been built was converted into a military garrison for the defense of the underlying Ponte di Pinzano. For this reason the ossuary was heavily bombed and at the end of the conflict it was definitively abandoned without ever having hosted any remains.

Austrian bear in Pinznao