The international youth an educational meeting center “House Across Borders” was a youth hostel offering historical, social, and political education programs as part of the German War Graves Commission (German: Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge). It was opened in 1993 near the German military cemetery in Lommel, where 39,111 people are buried who were killed in, predominately, the Second World War.
The building and the historical and civic education program are currently being restructured. Our program is aimed at school classes, youth groups, clubs, choirs and adult education groups. The new place of learning and remembrance with an exhibition is expected to be open to the public in 2026.
The “Across Borders” association builds a bridge between the past and the present and supports a culture of peace and non-violence. Linked to the Lommel war cemetery, the association primarily supports the educational work. The association does not pursue any economic interests, has no ideological or religious aims and is politically neutral.
The purpose of the association is the promotion and organization of projects and activities in youth and adult education that serve a transnational culture of remembrance and global peacekeeping. We look forward to hearing from you via JBS Lommel if you are interested in working with the association.
Contact: info@duitskerkhof.be
The war cemetery collects documents, photographs, letters, diaries and objects from people who found their final resting place at the war cemetery in Lommel. The collection comprises almost 400 bundles relating to individual people. These materials are the foundation of our educational work and can be viewed by family members, historical researchers and, as part of our programs, also by schoolchildren. In the interest of detailed historical research, we are constantly striving to expand the collection.
We would therefore be delighted if you could pass on information about war dead buried in Lommel. This can be documents (originals or copies) as well as personal objects (e.g. identification tags). Personal accounts of individuals from the circle of family and friends are also particularly important to us.
