During the autumn and winter of 1944/45, a long and bloody battle took place in the Huertgen Forest. 3.001 mostly German victims of this bitter struggle have their final resting place at Huertgen War Cemetery.

During the autumn and winter of 1944/45, the longest battle of the Second World War on German soil took place in the Huertgen Forest. With this battle, the war precipitated by the Nazi regime returned to Germany. The fighting caused numerous casualties on both sides.

At Huertgen War Cemetery 3.001 mostly German casualties of war have found their final resting place. Around 500 victims have not been identified. Among the German dead are a little over a hundred men who lost their lives during post-war clean-up operations as members of the ‘Ammunition Search and Removal Team’ or during efforts to recover the fallen from the forest.

The cemetery was established between 1951 and 1952 and inaugurated on 17 August 1952.
In 1994, on the 50th anniversary of D-Day, the landing of the Allies in Normandy, veterans of the 4th U.S. Infantry Division unveiled a memorial plaque in honour of Lieutenant Friedrich Lengfeld, who tried to save an American wounded soldier lying in a minefield at the cost of his own life. This memorial plaque can be found at the entrance of the cemetery.