AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN MILITARY
CEMETERY

During the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbia in the First World War, the Military Governor-General in Belgrade designated a meadow next to the northeastern part of the civilian New Cemetery for the burial of soldiers who died in local reserve military hospitals. In September 1918, wooden crosses were erected, each engraved with the names of the soldiers, while 27 officers received insignia made of white stone.

The first restoration of the Austro-Hungarian military cemetery took place between 1924 and 1926. After consolidation to a smaller area, the cemetery was solemnly opened on December 18, 1926, in the presence of representatives from the Austrian, Hungarian, and German embassies, alongside a delegation from Belgrade. A second concentration occurred in 1931, further reducing the cemetery’s size. Following an earlier agreement, the Hungarian Legation returned most of the land to the Department for Cemeteries of the City of Belgrade, leading to the erection of a massive fence around the cemetery between 1932 and 1933.

An artistically designed chapel enhances the cemetery’s aesthetic, featuring two reliefs by Petr Gindert. A colonnade with pillars and columns was constructed behind the chapel, while gravestones inscribed with “Unknown Soldier” were placed on either side in front.

The cemetery holds the remains of 260 Austro-Hungarian soldiers who died in battles around Belgrade and 460 who perished as prisoners of war during 1914 and 1915. To the left of the chapel stands a monument dedicated to the 68th Infantry Regiment, which suffered the first casualties in the war. Balog II Istvan, an infantryman from the 68th Regiment and the first to lose his life at the Sava railway bridge while fighting for the Central Powers, is also interred here. The Austro-Hungarian military cemetery in Belgrade is designated a cultural monument and recorded in the Central Register of Immovable Cultural Properties under serial number SK 785.