FRANKFURT AMERICAN KINDERFELD

Our Story

The American Kinderfeld, or Children's Cemetery, has a long and somewhat varied history. This is just a short summary. As of 18 Feb. 2020, we have the names of 695 children who were buried here over the years, plus a number of repatriations, but only 176 gravestones.

Frankfurt was home to many military troops as part of the American Occupation Forces after the end of the war in 1945. In 1946, things were changing and babies began being born at 97th General Hospital (today the American Consulate location) Sadly, not all of them made it. It seems to have been military policy at this time that the government would not pay for the transport of remains if a child was less than 2 years old at the time of death.
The 1st record we have of a child's' burial is for a baby named McCall, born 4.06.46.
As more women and families came to Frankfurt, and more babies were born, the need arose for a special burial spot for those babies who were stillborn or died at a young age, so a decision was made to set aside an area in the Frankfurt City Cemetery for the burials of these tiny American babies, for those families who could not afford to pay for the transport themselves.
The need for this special burial space was requested by the military from the City of Frankfurt. In 1962, the Commanding Officer submitted a formal request for space for 88 grave plots, to be used from 1962-1982. The price to be paid was 5,200.00 DM.
Unfortunately, the Kinderfeld was often neglected and not well-tended. In Dec. 1959, an article was printed in a local military weekly newspaper, called "The American Weekend" telling about its' desolate state, and other news sources took note. The article was published in newspapers in the US and in Germany. Immediately, military units from the whole Rhine-Main area all began contributing time and money to improve the condition. The publication date was 5.12.1959.
The size of the Kinderfeld was reduced by half, in 1998, and the few gravestones that were in the rear section were moved forward, where they are today.
In 1982, the local Boy Scout troops made wooden crosses for 63 graves. We have an article from the paper describing this, but we don't know which newspaper it was, though probably the Stars and Stripes.
In 1987, the International Women's' Club of Frankfurt, decided to replace the 63 wooden crosses that were now rotting and falling over, with headstones. They also had a white, marble memorial created, which is still located in the Kinderfeld. Until this time, they had been active in caring for the Kinderfeld and raising the money for the stones.
By 1987, burials had basically stopped, though the last child to be buried here was Dustin Rhodes, on 11 Aug. 1992.
In 2000, the Kinderfeld was reduced in size again, making it one-third of its' original size. Any stones that were in the rear section were brought forward and added to the ones that were already there. The cemetery lets us use this site with no rental fees and cares for it by mowing the grass, but any other care needs to come from the American community. It has no official status though as a monument and could disappear at the whim of the city of Frankfurt.
If your troop or group has done some work here, please get in touch with us, so that we can add you to the history of the Kinderfeld and add you to the care schedule. On occasion, a group has shown up to rake, clean, and plant, but discovered another group had been there the day before. We are trying to coordinate this effort.
If you are from the press and would like more information, please leave a message so that we can contact you or send me an email: jo.ator@yahoo.com