Many know about the legendary campaign of Suvorov across the Alps, but it is rarely mentioned how the Russian soldiers returned home. Columns of carts with the wounded stretched across Europe. Those who were too exhausted to continue were left in the Weingarten monastery in Germany under the care of the monks. According to various sources, the number of deceased reached nearly 2000 people.

They were buried in the local forest. The artist Johann Pflug recalled: "The Russians treated their deceased with respect. They made a coffin from carefully carved boards for each one. The priest sprinkled it with holy water. Comrades carried the coffin to the cemetery, which was half an hour's walk away, covering the grave with their hands so that only soft earth fell on the coffin, not stones. The grave mound was leveled and reinforced with large stones, and a cross was placed over each grave." Due to the many crosses, the locals named this grove the 'Russian Forest.'

The Germans treated the cemetery with respect, as the Russians were not robbers or rapists. They even erected a memorial plaque, which was removed by the French in 1850. However, the necropolis was not abandoned. In 1948, emigrants from Tsarist Russia erected a large wooden cross there. Fellow countrymen tried to preserve the memory of this place by bringing groups of Russian scouts there and holding services.

In 1999, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Suvorov's army crossing the Alps, Russians, Belarusians, Germans, Swiss, and French gathered in the 'Russian Forest.' The event was attended by the Duke of Württemberg, representatives of local authorities, Swiss military, and the Munich Orthodox Sergius Choir. All speakers emphasized the importance of preserving the Russian cemetery in Weingarten as a pan-European historical relic.