The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany (hereinafter referred to as the “Federal Government”) and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (hereinafter referred to as the “Government of the United Kingdom”) - desiring to make arrangements for German war graves situated in the United Kingdom, desirous of to ensure the care and maintenance of these war graves, having regard to Part Seven, Article 2, of the Treaty on the Settlement of War and Occupation, have agreed as follows:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Agreement
(a) German war dead means persons who were members of the German armed forces or military-type organizations and who died during or as a result of the 1914-18 and 1939-45 conflicts and who are buried in the United Kingdom, and persons of German nationality who were interned at the time of their death,
(b) German war graves means graves of German war dead,
c) United Kingdom: Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Article 2
(1) The German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V.) (hereinafter referred to as the Volksbund) shall undertake on behalf of the Federal Government the technical execution of the tasks arising from this Agreement. The Government of the United Kingdom shall afford every facility to that organization.
(2) The Commission shall be entitled to acquire, hold and own land, buildings, parts of buildings and fittings in the United Kingdom and, to the extent necessary, to send representatives and agents to the United Kingdom.
Article 3
(1) The Government of the United Kingdom shall ensure the protection of war graves and perpetual rights of burial for German war dead interred in the United Kingdom. It will also ensure the care and maintenance of these graves.
(2) German war graves in cemeteries or areas of respect, the maintenance of which is the responsibility of the Imperial War Graves Commission and which are included in the list to be drawn up in agreement between the Imperial War Graves Commission and the Commission, will not be removed. The German Federal Government will ensure that these graves are provided with headstones in accordance with a design agreed with the Imperial War Graves Commission. The costs of this work will be borne by the German Federal Government.
(3) Other war graves than those mentioned in paragraph (2) of this Article may, in order to facilitate their long-term care and maintenance, be consolidated at the request of the Federal Government, with the prior consent of the Imperial War Graves Commission, in the cemeteries and sections of honor mentioned in paragraph (2) that are maintained by the Imperial War Graves Commission or in a German military cemetery yet to be created. The costs of such a consolidation shall be borne by the Federal Government.
(4) The land required for the construction of the German military cemetery mentioned in paragraph (3) shall be selected by agreement between the Federal Government and the Government of the United Kingdom. The Government of the United Kingdom shall transfer this land to the Federal Republic of Germany for its free use.
(5) The Government of the United Kingdom shall ensure the undisturbed possession of the land already available in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Article or to be made available in the future in accordance with paragraphs (3) and (4) of this Article.
Should it be urgently necessary in the public interest to abandon war gravesites on this land, the responsible authorities in the United Kingdom shall provide other suitable land for the same purpose and bear the costs for the re-burial of the dead as well as for the construction and design of the new war gravesites. The selection of the new land as well as the construction and design of the new war gravesites shall be carried out in agreement with the German Federal Government.
Article 4
Except in the circumstances contemplated in Article 3, paragraph (5) of this Agreement, the construction and maintenance of war cemeteries for German war dead shall be at the expense of the Federal Government in consultation with the Government of the United Kingdom.
Article 5
The Government of the United Kingdom shall make available to the Federal Government all records in its possession relating to German war dead and war graves that are necessary for the registration of German war graves and the identification of the dead.
Article 6
(1) The Federal Government may import goods, including equipment, tools and works of art, which are required for the construction, design and maintenance of war cemeteries for German war dead and for the reburial and reinterment of the dead, into the United Kingdom free of customs and excise duties.
(2) The government of the United Kingdom shall grant corresponding facilities for the import of trees, plants, seeds and bulbs for the decoration of war gravesites for German war dead. However, the government of the United Kingdom is entitled to limit or restrict such import to the extent required by the plant protection regulations of the United Kingdom.
(3) The Government of the United Kingdom shall ensure that the People's Confederation is reimbursed for taxes on hydrocarbon compounds intended for the operation of motor vehicles belonging to the People's Confederation and used for official purposes in the United Kingdom.
(4) The Government of the United Kingdom shall ensure that the People's Union can obtain articles for official use free of purchase tax, by exemption in the case of imported goods and by refund of purchase tax in the case of goods purchased in the United Kingdom from registered dealers.
(5) The exemptions and facilities provided for in this Article shall be granted at the request of the People's Union.
Article 7
(1) The exhumation and repatriation of German war dead from the United Kingdom to Germany shall be subject to the prior authorization of the Federal Government. The Government of the United Kingdom shall permit such repatriation only upon presentation of such authorization. In the event of repatriation, the legal provisions in force in the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany concerning the transportation of corpses shall be observed.
(2) The application for exhumation and repatriation of a dead person shall be made by the eligible family members to the competent German authorities, who shall forward the application to the Government of the United Kingdom.
(3) The costs of such exhumation and repatriation shall not be borne by the Government of the United Kingdom or the Imperial War Graves Commission.
(4) Applications for the transfer of war dead to other countries will be communicated by the United Kingdom Government to the German Government before approval by the United Kingdom Government, in order that the exact grave location and the identity of the dead person to be exhumed may be determined.
Article 8
The technical details of the implementation of this Agreement shall be settled directly between the German organization named in Article 2 and the competent authorities of the United Kingdom.
Article 9
This Agreement shall also apply to the Land of Berlin, unless the Federal Government makes a declaration to the contrary to the Government of the United Kingdom within three months of the entry into force of this Agreement.
Article 10
This Agreement shall enter into force on the day of its signature.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized to this effect, have signed this Agreement.
DONE at London on the sixteenth day of October in the year one thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine in two copies each in the English and German languages, both texts being equally authentic.
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND (signed) John Profumo
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY (signed) Joachim Friedrich Ritter