Marienfeld Memorial

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The memorial in Marienfeld

The memorial Marienfeld is a war memorial for the fallen and missing both world wars in Harsewinkel district Marienfeld in Gütersloh , North Rhine-Westphalia . The former well house of the Marienfeld monastery from the early 18th century was moved to its current location in front of the gate of the former monastery complex at the initiative of the local Heimatverein at the beginning of the 1950s. Inside was a figure of George created by a student of Kurt Schwippert in 1954 , which the Marienfeld population did not like and which led to protests. That is why Hubert Hartmann created another figure a year later so that the memorial could be inaugurated on November 16, 1955. Annually on the day of national mourning and at the Heimatfest and Schützenfest, the Marienfeld Heritage Association commemorates the fallen with a wreath-laying ceremony .

description

The memorial stands in the middle of a triangular square covered with beech trees south of Klosterstrasse in Marienfeld, directly in front of the gate of the former Marienfeld monastery . The square, planted with rhododendrons and ground cover , is popularly known as the fairground forest and is surrounded by a low iron chain.

The circular former well house measures almost 2.5 meters in diameter and is made of Baumberger sandstone . The 60 centimeter high plinth with a circumferential bulge encloses three quarters of the inner surface. Four pillars with a profiled base and volute-shaped consoles rise above the wide openings. On the inside there are four panels made of the same stone, which bear the names of the fallen or missing Marienfeld citizens. The club's management decided to include the relatives of those displaced to Marienfeld, so that 159 names - 41 from the First and 118 from the Second World War - are carved. Above the pillars rests the surrounding cornice with a round arch frieze and a profiled end. The eight-part bell-shaped hood is covered with slate and is crowned by a globe with a Latin cross on top.

In the center of the building stands the figure of St. George made of Thüster sand-lime stone . The cuboid base has a footprint of 40 centimeters by 45 centimeters and is 65 centimeters high. On the front is a depiction of a steel helmet turned to the left , which is accompanied on both sides by branches with seven leaves each. The caption reads in capital letters UNVERGESSEN and the dating of 1914-18 and 1939-45 . The depiction of the saint measures 1.6 meters in height. Georg, dressed in a tunic and gloves, stands on a dragon looking to the right . His soldier's cloak is held together on his chest with a clasp ; to his left he is withdrawn and tucked under his arm. He grasps a double-edged sword with both hands and stabs the creature at his feet with it.

In comparison, the market fountain in Mainz from 1526 and the Neptune fountain in Merseburg Castle from 1605 have a triangular structure and both are designed as draw fountains . In Frenswegen there are two Renaissance well houses which, like the Marienfelder, have a structure with four pillars. Like the first two examples, the Frenswegen fountains are also draw wells. The fountain in the castle courtyard of Burgsteinfurt was created in 1727 in baroque forms on a square floor plan with four columns; the pump was later built into the housing. The fountain house in the Falkenhof in Rheine also consists of four supports that support the roof above the circular fountain trough.

history

Layout of the monastery in 1802 without the well house being shown

After the new construction of the Marienfeld Abbey from 1699 to 1702, a little fountain house made of Baumberger sandstone was built in its forecourt ( ⊙ ) in the early 18th century . The initiator was probably the abbot Bernardus Cuelmann . Hagels suspects the guild house master Lübbert Hagen as the creator of the building. As a leading architect, Hagen also built the new convent building in Marienfeld after 1710. After the abbey was dissolved in 1803, a number of properties were sold, including the well house. At the intersection of today's national road 513 and the road to Herzebrock ( ⊙ ) it was given a new function as ways chapel and Statio the local Corpus Christi procession . Three of the open areas between the pillars were walled up and inside there was a cross on an altar, which was signed with Omnia ad maiorem Dei Gloriam (“All for the higher glory of God”), the motto of the Jesuits .

Commemorative plaque for the fallen of the First World War by Heinrich Baak , 1923

A memorial plaque was erected in 1923 in the former monastery church and today's parish church as a war memorial for the fallen of the First World War . The wooden relief created by Heinrich Baak shows a lying or dying soldier with an angel kneeling at his side. The names of the fallen and missing Marienfelder are incorporated on the left and right. The panel is set into the late Gothic choir screen in the north transept .

The well house as a field chapel on today's B 513, taken in 1927

In 1952 the federal highway 513 should be widened, which is why the chapel had to give way. At its general assembly, the local homeland association decided to take over the chapel and rebuild it as a new war memorial in the town center. The owner and at the same time second chairwoman of the association, Maria Meier Viehmeyer, donated the building on condition that it be used as a war memorial. The Baron von Korff on appropriated the so-called fair grove in front of the gate of the monastery on 19 December 1952, the then politically independent community Marienfeld explicitly establishing a memorial to the fallen . The trees on the property were purchased for 1,500  DM .

The association wanted to commemorate not only the fallen and missing from the two world wars from Marienfeld, but also the soldiers belonging to the expellees. In addition to a public announcement, the place was divided into districts, for which people took care of the accuracy and completeness of the lists. By the end of September 1952, 39 dead from the First and 73 from the Second World War were known by name and the list was sent to the Franz Rüther sculpture company in Münster. On January 13, 1953, Rüther submitted his final offer for the conversion of the chapel for DM 2,889 and the creation of the memorial plaques on the inside of the pillars for DM 1,989 and was awarded the contract. The total costs, including the roof to be renovated, amounted to 7,239 DM. The state road construction office granted a grant of 1,500 DM and the state curator Wilhelm Rave a grant of 1,000 DM. According to the donation list, the Marienfeld population collected 4,938.50 DM for the project .

For the interior design, an Anna figure from the monastery was considered in the autumn of 1952 , which was saved after the fire in the farm buildings in Harkotten Castle in 1915 . The figure - probably a work by an unspecified Gröninger - was formerly in the gable of a farm building that belonged to the residents of Harkotten Castle, Baron von Korff. The Heimatverein named the restorer Julius Moormann from Wiedenbrück to repair the slightly damaged figure. When asked whether the figure could be used, the state curator Theodor Rensing replied that the sculptor Kurt Schwippert and his class at the Werkkunstschule Münster had been commissioned to make around ten to twelve designs for a statue. On June 21, 1954, Schwippert's school was commissioned to create a statue of George from Ibbenbüren sandstone based on one of the models. The costs were calculated at 2,500 DM. On October 12, 1954, Schwippert informed the association that the sculpture was finished. On October 26th it was transported to Marienfeld and set up. The only image in the bell shows a classic representation of St. George with a lance in modern design.

Detail of the St. George figure by Hubert Hartmann

Even before the inauguration of the memorial on the Day of Repentance and Prayer in 1954, the Heimatverein called an extraordinary general assembly , as there were protests among the population against the installation of this figure. The 150 members present found the figure out of place . The association's chairman, Anton Bussemas, informed the state curator, Rensing, of the rejection of the population. In the annual report to the district home nurse of the Warendorf district, the chairman complained: Unfortunately, this ultra-modern version did not fit into the frame, the old well house of the Marienfeld monastery. In particular, the contrast in color between the types of stone used in the figure and the case did not seem to please. Finally, the association dismantled the figure and placed it in the cloister of the monastery, as there was a risk that the figure would be damaged or smashed at its location by radical forces . The commemoration of the fallen took place in 1954 according to the old procedure in the monastery courtyard and ended with the laying of a wreath on the memorial plaque in the abbey church.

In July 1955 Hubert Hartmann was commissioned to deliver a new design for a statue of George. He complied and offered a figure made of Thüster sand-lime brick for another DM 2,500. He received the order on July 18, 1955 and the statue was erected in the fountain house and the memorial was inaugurated on November 16, 1955 on the day of penance and prayer. The newly founded Marienfeld honor guard made its first official appearance.

Schwippert did not want to take back the first figure because everything went normally in his eyes. A village in Westmünsterland probably had a vague interest in acquiring the statue of St. George. The figure was sold for 1,000 DM in 1958 - it is not known where.

The city of Harsewinkel entered the fountain house as part of the former monastery complex on February 1, 1991 under number 28 in their list of monuments . With the note The St. George figure made of Ibbenbürener sandstone is from 1955 and not listed. the set figure is excluded.

In spring 2001 the area around the memorial was redesigned. Volunteers have planted bushes, paved the access road and surrounded the property with a low iron chain. The costs for the planting could be covered by a donation of the local advertising association in the amount of 4,000 DM; The city of Harsewinkel took over the renovation of the well house and the edging.

meaning

Laying of the wreath at the memorial for the Heimat- und Schützenfest 2010

The memorial is the focus of the annual commemorative events for the fallen and missing of the two world wars on Memorial Day and for the local festival and shooting festival. On the day of national mourning, the commemoration begins with the Sunday Holy Mass in the former abbey church. For the rifle festival the procession stops after a ceremony in the cloister courtyard at the memorial. After the parade of the honorary formation of the local Heimatverein, which maintains the shooting scene in Marienfeld, the wind orchestra opens with a chorale . A speaker follows and the dead are read out. In the past, all names were read out, today they are limited to the total number of people from the two wars. During the laying of the wreath , the brass orchestra plays The Good Comrade . The commemoration closes with the German national anthem and the march. A wreath is also laid on the old memorial in the church on both days of remembrance.

literature

  • Hermann Hagels: The well houses in the county of Bentheim and in the subsequent Westphalia . In: Yearbook of the Heimatverein des Grafschaft Bentheim . tape 51 , 1960, p. 132-139 .
  • Walter Werland: Marienfelder Chronik. On the history of the Cistercian abbey and the Marienfeld community . Marienfeld 1968, p. 957-962 .
  • Heimatverein Marienfeld e. V. (Hrsg.): 50 years Heimatverein Marienfeld . Marienfeld 2000, p. 51-52 .
  • Eckhard Möller: The memorial for the fallen in Marienfeld and a dispute about St. George . In: District of Gütersloh (Hrsg.): Heimatjahrbuch Kreis Gütersloh . Gütersloh 2011, p. 44-50 .

Web links

Commons : Ehrenmal Marienfeld  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heimatverein Marienfeld (ed.): 50 years Heimatverein Marienfeld , p. 51.
  2. ^ Walter Werland: Marienfelder Chronik , pp. 958–962.
  3. ↑ a b c Hubert Hartmann: Offer about a Georgsfigur , July 12, 1955.
  4. ^ A b Hermann Hagels: The well houses in the county of Bentheim and in the subsequent Westphalia , 1960.
  5. ↑ Eckhard Möller in Heimatjahrbuch 2011 , p. 46, note 14: The well house is not shown on the well-known images of the Marienfeld monastery at the beginning of the 19th century.
  6. ^ Walter Werland: Marienfelder Chronik , p. 228.
  7. ^ The architectural and art monuments of Westphalia , Warendorf district, p. 264.
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Heimatverein Marienfeld (Ed.): 50 years Heimatverein Marienfeld , p. 52.
  9. ↑ a b c d Eckhard Möller in Heimatjahrbuch 2011 , p. 47.
  10. ^ Letter from the Heimatverein to Franz Rüther dated September 27, 1952.
  11. ↑ a b c The bell of November 8, 1954.
  12. ^ Walter Werland: Marienfelder Chronik , p. 957.
  13. ↑ Eckhard Möller in Heimatjahrbuch 2011 , p. 48.
  14. ^ Annual report of the Marienfeld home association for the district home nurse Dilla in Warendorf from January 13, 1955.
  15. ↑ Eckhard Möller in Heimatjahrbuch 2011 , p. 49.
  16. ^ Letter from the Heimatverein to the state curator Dr. Rensing from December 24, 1954.
  17. ^ Letter from the Heimatverein to Hubert Hartmann from July 18, 1955.
  18. ↑ Eckhard Möller in Heimatjahrbuch 2011 , p. 50.
  19. ↑ Heimatverein Marienfeld: Cash book 1958 .
  20. ^ City of Harsewinkel: Monument file for the former well house .
  21. ↑ Neue Westfälische of May 3, 2001.
  22. ^ The bell of May 5, 2001.
  23. ↑ Schützenfest etiquette: Part 8 - Entries, parades and commemorations. Heimatverein Marienfeld, 2011, accessed on June 26, 2012 .
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on July 7, 2012 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 56 ′ 50.7 "  N , 8 ° 16 ′ 49.8"  E