Gersheim commemorates war offerings: Remembrance Day on November 16th in Herbitzheim

Gersheim commemorates war offerings: Remembrance Day on November 16th in Herbitzheim

On November 16, 2025, a memorial event for Remembrance Day will take place in the community of Gersheim. This will be held from 5 p.m. in the Church of St. Barbara in Herbitzheim under the artistic direction of church musician Oliver Duymel. The program includes music, texts and atmospheric visualizations with the aim of remembering the victims of war and persecution. This year also marks the 80th anniversary of liberation and the end of the war in the region.

As saarnews.com reports, representatives of the French partner municipality of Bazancourt and other Lorraine municipalities will also take part in the event. At 4:30 p.m. a wreath-laying ceremony by the community and the local council will take place in the cemetery to commemorate the many people who made great sacrifices for the liberation. These include resistance fighters, soldiers and civilians who suffered under a terrorist regime during the war and many of them were locked in camps or used for forced labor.

Meaning of Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day, which was introduced in 1919 by the German War Graves Commission, is a quiet holiday celebrated on the penultimate Sunday of the Protestant church year. It commemorates the dead of the First World War and is part of a tradition that also includes Dead Sunday, a Sunday that takes place a week before the first Advent. In many regions of Germany, Remembrance Day is an important occasion to pause and reflect.

As ndr.de explains, this day was established to remember the victims of war and violence and it has grown in importance over the years. The memorial event in Gersheim is an example of how communities come together to preserve the memories of past suffering and pay respect to the victims.