Military cemetery in Podhrad

The military cemetery in Podhrad is one of the most unusual and least-known historic sites near Cheb — a World War I prisoner-of-war burial ground where Orthodox Russians rest alongside Muslim soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army. It sits on a gentle slope in the eastern part of the village of Podhrad, between Všebořská street and the railway line, on a plot of roughly 4,000 square metres.

How did a cemetery end up in Podhrad?

The story starts in February 1915, when military authorities decided to build a prisoner-of-war camp next to the Cheb army training ground, along the road leading to Podhrad. A whole wooden settlement grew up there: barracks, bathhouses, disinfection stations, laundries, a bakery, tailoring and carpentry workshops, and even its own electricity and water supply. The camp employed close to 800 guards, officers and medical staff, and could hold several thousand prisoners at once. Because a large share of the inmates were Muslim, the camp even had its own mosque with a minaret.

The cemetery itself was laid out in spring 1915 on the land of the former village of Velká Všeboř, which no longer exists today. The original plan called for five sections divided by faith, but in practice only two were ever used — Orthodox and Muslim.

How many prisoners are buried here?

By summer 1915 the cemetery held just 7 Russian graves, but the number grew quickly as the war dragged on. By 1918 it contained 420 Russians, 46 Italians and roughly 220–225 Muslim prisoners, many of them from the territory of today's Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Wartime records put the total number of burials at 691. In 1926, part of the dead — 87 Serbs, one Montenegrin and one Bosnian — were exhumed and reburied in a mausoleum in Jindřichovice. Later, several Soviet Army soldiers killed during the Second World War were also laid to rest here.

What can visitors see today?

After 1945 the cemetery fell into decades of neglect, until the city of Cheb carried out a thorough restoration in 2009–2010. The original wartime graves themselves were not preserved, but the grounds were cleaned up and fitted with an information panel explaining the history of the camp and the cemetery.

At the heart of the site stand two granite monuments carved by sculptor Karel Wilfert Jr. (1879–1932). The Muslim monument is a roughly hewn monolith topped with a turban-like shape, bearing a crescent, a star and a Quranic inscription. The Orthodox monument takes the form of a large Orthodox cross with Christ's monogram. Modest as they are, both memorials leave a strong impression precisely because of the silence and isolation of the setting around them.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the cemetery in Podhrad located? In the eastern part of the village of Podhrad near Cheb, between Všebořská street and the railway line, at an elevation of about 446 metres above sea level.

Who is buried there? Mostly prisoners of war from the Russian and Austro-Hungarian armies during World War I — Orthodox Russians, Italians and Muslim soldiers from the Balkans — along with several Soviet soldiers from World War II.

Can the cemetery be visited? Yes, the site is open to the public and, since its 2009–2010 restoration, is maintained as a memorial with an information panel.

Have the original graves survived? No — individual wartime graves were not preserved. Today the site is marked by two historic monuments created by sculptor Karel Wilfert Jr.