The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. is a humanitarian organisation whose task is to register, maintain and care for the graves of German war dead abroad. The Volksbund counsels dependants in questions of looking after war graves, provides advice for public and private agencies, supports international cooperation in the field of war graves care and promotes encounters of young people in cemeteries for the war dead.

Today, the association has 1.3 million members and donors. It finances its work through their contributions and donations and through the revenues from annual household and street collections. The federal government helps where the Volksbund's own income is insufficient.

This private charity was founded on 16 December 1919. By the beginning of the 1930s it had already developed numerous war cemeteries. The leadership of the Volksbund was unable to escape the influence of the National Socialists after 1933. During the Second World War the work of the Volksbund was restricted. The Wehrmacht's own war graves service took over the establishment of military cemeteries.

It was not until 1946 that the Volksbund was able to resume its work. In a very short time it was successful in establishing more than 400 war cemeteries in Germany. In 1954, Konrad Adenauer, the German chancellor, commissioned the Volksbund with the task of searching for, securing and caring for German military cemeteries abroad.

The Volksbund carries out its work in Europe and North Africa in the framework of bilateral agreements. It now looks after about 842 military cemeteries in 44 countries with about 2 million dead. The diverse work of the association is carried out today by almost 10,000 honorary and 558 full-time employees.