Founded in the second half of the 18th century and built on top of a small mound, the need for a German cemetery came about after the illustrious German-Lithuanian Antanas Tyzenhauzas (1733-1785) brought a substantial German workforce to Šiauliai to labour in factories he founded. The cemetery accommodated everyone of German descent including suicides, atheists and German soldiers, and was active until WWII. Part of it once boasted large wooden crosses that were unfortunately destroyed by the Soviets when they returned to Lithuania in 1944. The cemetery is in a state of decay and is now looked after by the best efforts of the city’s German Society. A memorial service and feast is held here on the first Sunday of every August, starting at around 10:30. Interestingly, Bobkalnis (Hag’s Hill), the mound on which it’s located, is thought by some to be a Neolithic burial mound, although no excavations to prove the fact or otherwise have ever been attempted.