Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, NDSU:
Lace-like curved crosses were often made by blacksmiths for women’s graves. The traditional iron grave marker as an art form migrated from Germany to the Russian Ukraine, and eventually to the Great Plains of North Dakota and Canada.
Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, NDSU:
Some of the crosses are located in cemeteries, but many also can be found in overgrown family plots throughout the upper Great Plains
Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, NDSU:
Each cross maker had a distinctive style, recognized by those in the community, and in more recent times, by those who study the ethnic art form.
Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, NDSU:
This grave marker for a boy who died at age 10 is an example of how ironmakers designed smaller crosses within the large cross to signify the grave of a fallen child.