A remarkable anecdote about the Studentenfriedhof Langemark concerns the myth of the "singing students". According to a much-discussed story, the young German student volunteers were said to have sung the "Deutschlandlied" while marching to the front line on 10 November 1914. This image of singing, idealistic students going to their deaths was later reinforced by nationalist propaganda. In reality, the situation was probably much grimmer, with mud, fog and the cries of the wounded. However, this myth became a symbol of the sacrifice and idealism of the young soldiers, although it is important to look at this story critically.
The German military cemetery in Langemark is one of the four German mass burial sites in Belgium. It is also known as the "student cemetery" because numerous young German volunteers died here during the First Battle of Ypres in 1914.
Today more than 44,300 German soldiers are buried here. More than half of them rest together in the so-called comrades' grave at the entrance to the cemetery. About 17,000 soldiers from this mass grave could be identified. Their names can be found on the blocks surrounding the comrade's grave.
This cemetery was on the front line. German bunkers can still be found on this site. Originally a British cemetery here at the beginning of the war. Germans were only …