The Hell of Verdun: A Crypt for 130,000 Unidentified Soldiers

The Douaumont Ossuary, located in Douaumont-Vaux, France, is a memorial crypt containing the skeletal remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. It is immediately next to the Fleury-devant-Douaumont National Necropolis. The ossuary was built on the initiative of Charles Ginisty, Bishop of Verdun. During the 300 days of the Battle of Verdun (21 February 1916 – 19 December 1916), approximately 300,000 men died out of a total of 700,000 casualties.

Through small outside windows, the skeletal remains of at least 130,000 unidentified combatants of both nations can be seen filling up alcoves at the lower edge of the building. On the inside of the ossuary building, the ceiling and walls are partly covered by plaques bearing names of French soldiers who died during the Battle of Verdun. The families of the soldiers that are recognized here by name contributed for those individual plaques. The ossuary was officially inaugurated on 7 August 1932 by French President Albert Lebrun.

The ossuary contains the remains of both French and German soldiers who died on the Verdun battlefield.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons