Many of them lost their lives in the Battle of Salerno, after the Allied landings, but also on the Adriatic ridge of the Apennines, in the Battle of Ortona and finally in the Battles of Montecassino.

It is one of the most important German cemeteries in Italy. Its construction began in 1959 by architect Tischler; it was completed in 1964 by Professor Offenberg.

In the entrance hall of the shrine is the imposing sculpture called ‘Affliction and Comfort’, featuring a male and a female figure, which symbolises the mourning of the families of the fallen. The cemetery is formed by five elliptical terraces and two semi-terraces, connected by two main paths. At the top of the hill, between oak and cypress trees, stands an 11-metre high bronze cross, beyond which lie the mass graves.

On a pedestal stands a lamp, a gift from Pope Paul VI.

Although work was completed in 1964, the cemetery was opened to the public on 4 May 1965, in the presence of Montecassino Abbot Ildefonso Rea.