Guided tour Nationaal Ereveld

National War Cemetery Loenen

Loenen National Cemetery is an unusual cemetery. It is the final resting place of almost 4,000 Dutch war victims: soldiers, as well as ordinary citizens: men, women and children. They all lost their lives during the Second World War or during subsequent violent conflicts – such as in the former Dutch East Indies or the more recent (peace) missions. The graves are not located in neat rows on a lawn, but in the forest, spread along winding paths

The Field of Honor is open to the public daily from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. You can learn more about the cemetery using an audio tour with QR codes or via the youth route, which is fun and educational for children. Both routes are free and available in the entrance building. Every Sunday a walk is provided by a guide. You can read more about this on this page.

Memorial and education center

On the edge of the Field of Honor and the adjacent Loenen National Veterans Cemetery is the memorial and education center designed by KAAN architects. Meet six relatives of war victims. Discover the stories of a daughter, grandson, mother, sister and niece who talk about their lost loved ones and their lives. Also listen to the veterans who tell their own stories about their experiences in a war zone. The stories also provide an overview of the many international (peace) missions that continue to this day. The exhibition was designed by Tinker Imagineers.

Free guided tour

Every Sunday in 2023 there is a free guided tour of the Field of Honor. Listen to the stories of the people buried there. The tour starts every Sunday at 11 a.m. and starts from the entrance to the cemetery. Would you rather walk around on your own? For families with children there is a special Youth Route in the entrance building and adults can take an audio tour using QR codes.

Use the grave marker to find a specific grave, search by the surname of the war victim. Or select a long or short walk and print it out.

Java

The Loenen National War Cemetery also contains seven white crosses in memory of the 25,000 Dutch war victims who have their graves in one of the seven war cemeteries in Java, Indonesia. A white cross has been placed in front of each cemetery in Loenen.

Chapel

A striking building on the cemetery is the chapel. In the chapel there is a shrine with 42 memorial books. These books contain the names of 130,000 Dutch war victims who have no identifiable grave. Every day the caretaker of the cemetery turns one page, so that they too are never forgotten. On the wall of the chapel there is a board with the names of fallen England sailors and there are several urns with ashes from concentration camps.

This is what is so special about Het Ereveld

Loenen National Cemetery is special because of the large number of civilian victims buried there. The ratio is about 80% civilians and 20% military. This is in contrast to other war cemeteries, which are often designed as military war cemeteries and where almost only soldiers are buried.

The plot differs in design from other plots. Loenen National Cemetery does not contain long rows of crosses, but lying stones along winding forest paths.

There are seven war cemetery crosses on the Loenen National Cemetery with the names of the war cemeteries in Java, Indonesia. In total, there are approximately 25,000 Dutch war victims in Indonesia.

The Loenen National War Cemetery contains not only victims from the Second World War, but also war victims who died during violent conflicts afterwards.

Every day the caretaker of the cemetery turns a page in one of the 43 memorial books in total. The memorial books contain the names of 130,000 war victims for whom no grave location is known. By turning a page a day, these war victims are not forgotten.

The plate with the names of fallen England sailors was originally given to Queen Wilhelmina. Later she donated to the War Graves Foundation for the chapel.