Connection monument Oberschützen
The " Anschlussdenkmal" Oberschützen was erected in Oberschützen in southern Burgenland after Austria was "annexed" to the National Socialist German Reich in 1938/39 . It is considered to be the largest such National Socialist building on Austrian soil. This was intended to "replace" another memorial sign erected in Oberschützen, which was also referred to as the "Anschlussdenkmal": the "small Anschlussdenkmal" from 1931 - an "old Germanic sacrificial stone" that was erected on the occasion of the ten years that the former Hungarian area belonged to Austria had been.
Establishment
The groundbreaking for the construction of the plant took place on October 7, 1938 by the Oberwart district manager Eduard Nicka (1911–1972) in the presence of the Styrian Gauleiter, Tobias Portschy (1906–1996), who had taken over the patronage of the project. The construction of the NS monument, which is located today on Sonnleitenweg, was promoted by the NSDAP local group Oberschützen and the local school institutions. It was built according to plans by the Graz architect Rudolf Hofer (1894–1956), who had already worked on the “small connection monument”, and with the cooperation of the population, especially the youth. At the inauguration ceremony in May 1939, numerous high-ranking Nazi officials were also present. Based on the German “ Tannenberg Monument ”, Hofer designed a square, spacious courtyard with pillars. Inside there were eight pylons with braziers; in the middle a gilded stone sovereign eagle was enthroned on a pedestal with the inscription “Ein Volk! An empire! A guide! ”The building material came from quarries in the Sulzriegel district of the Bad Tatzmannsdorf community .
Naming
Of the various names used in the Nazi era ("Grenzlandmal", "Ehrenmal", "Mahnmal", "Anschlussdenkmal", "Weihestätte", "Anschlussweihestätte", etc.), the term "Anschlussdenkmal", under which the memorial was established is known to this day.
The "Anschluss Memorial" after 1945
After the collapse of the Nazi regime, parts of the memorial (inscription, fire bowls, gilded eagle) were removed or destroyed. There were repeated discussions about demolishing the memorial, but this never happened. Concrete planning was difficult because the property consisted of several parcels and different private owners were responsible. The building was used in various ways in the following years (e.g. for campfires, sun fires, nude photo shoots), but remained taboo for a long time with regard to the history of its origins. From the 1980s onwards, committed citizens, primarily from the school and artistic fields, especially the author Peter Wagner, tried to counteract this by calling for a public discussion of the monument. In 1997 the community reinterpreted the memorial as a “memorial against violence and racism”, for which a plaque was attached to the memorial. The inscription reads:
"Erected in 1939 as a memorial for Austria's annexation to National Socialist Germany. May this site be a memorial for us today and in the future: against dictatorship, against violence, against racism - for democracy, for peace and for the protection of human rights! Community of Oberschützen, 1997 ".
2016: Lease of the "connection monument" by the municipality
The handling of the "connection monument" remained controversial; However, events on the topic met with great interest. In 2016, thanks to the mediation of committed citizens, the municipality of Oberschützen succeeded in leasing the parcels on which the monument is located for 30 years. The building was placed under monument protection and renovated in 2018/19 in cooperation with the Federal Monuments Office. In 2018 a “Monuments Working Group” was set up in the community.
Project: "Connection Monument" as a place of thought, memory and information
A comprehensive project has been developed, including a. is implemented with EU LEADER funds. It aims to ensure that the "connection monument" is part of the region's cultural heritage, just as the history of National Socialism is part of the region's history. The reference to the history of the monument, which has so far been missing in the construction, is to be added in a clearly perceptible manner in the course of the project. The project involves the population and aims to raise awareness of the contradictions of cultural heritage in the region. In this way, this “legacy that shapes” is to be designed for the future despite or precisely because of its Nazi past. The project aims to make the (secured) information on the "connection monument" accessible at various levels (on site, QR code, online, teaching materials, information brochures, etc.) and to secure the cultural heritage in the long term by building a community archive and making it generally accessible. A wide variety of aspects should be taken into account: from a scientifically based presentation of historical developments and facts to the design of the site as a place of thought, remembrance and information to the possibility of artistic examination of the National Socialist building and its history.
literature
- Wolfgang Krug: The burden of memory. NS monument cult using the example of Oberschützen. Edition lex liszt 12, Oberwart 1998, ISBN 3-901757-07-4 .
Web links
- 80 years of the Anschluss - from the “Grenzlandmal” to the memorial: the Anschluss memorial in Oberschützen (Burgenland). In: Federal Monuments Office , March 2018.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bundesdenkmalamt: 80 years of connection from the Grenzlandmal to the memorial. Retrieved September 2, 2019 .
- ↑ Wolfgang Krug: Last of the memory. NS monument cult using the example of Oberschützen. Edition lex liszt 12, Oberwart 1998, p. 31-52 .
- ↑ Susanne Uslu-Pauer / Eva Holpfer: Before the People's Court. Proceedings against Nazi perpetrators from Burgenland 1945-1955 . Burgenland Research Volume 96 . Eisenstadt 2008, p. 54-61 .
- ↑ Ursula Mindler: Tobias Portschy. Biography of a National Socialist. The years up to 1945 . In: Burgenland research . tape 96 . Eisenstadt 2006.
- ↑ Wolfgang Krug: Last of the memory. NS monument cult using the example of Oberschützen. Edition lex liszt 12, Oberwart 1998, ISBN 3-901757-07-4 , p. 147-197 .
- ↑ Krug, Wolfgang: Last of the memory: NS monument cult using the example of Oberschützen . Edition lex liszt 12, Oberwart 1998, ISBN 3-901757-07-4 .
- ^ Wilhelm Hutter, Dieter Posch (Ed.): 140 years of BG and BRG Oberschützen . Oberwart 1985.
- ^ Peter Wagner: Black Box. Retrieved September 2, 2019 .
- ↑ Ursula Mindler-Steiner: Project "Connection Monument" Oberschützen. Retrieved September 2, 2019 .
- ↑ Ursula Mindler-Steiner: The National Socialist "connection monument" in Oberschützen. Retrieved September 9, 2019 .
Coordinates: 47 ° 20 '36.14 " N , 16 ° 12' 44.77" E