Düsseldorf memorials for victims of National Socialism

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There have been a large number of memorial sites, memorials and memorials commemorating the victims of National Socialism in the North Rhine-Westphalian state capital Düsseldorf since 1946 . Some of them are decentralized, such as the Düsseldorf Stolpersteine, or remind of individuals or entire persecuted groups, such as Jews or Sinti and Roma. Since 1987, numerous initiatives have come from the municipal memorial and memorial in Düsseldorf to design such memorial sites in public space. Ideas and suggestions came from citizens, history associations, district councils and the city council. The memorial sites reflect the need to deal with the city's history between 1933 and 1945, but also the respective circumstances and historical images of the time they were created. The places listed here are only a selection.

Memorial stone on the former site of the synagogue (1946)

The stone was unveiled on November 9, 1946 by Karl Arnold and representatives of the British military government. It is reminiscent of the Great Synagogue , which was built in 1904 and destroyed in 1938 during the November pogrom. It was the first memorial stone of its kind in a German city and was later supplemented by a relief showing the synagogue, which was inaugurated on November 9, 1983.

Execution site Aktion Rheinland (1957)

The place is reminiscent of Aktion Rheinland and is located in Bilk on Anton-Betz-Straße. A small plaque on a piece of brick wall inside indicates the scene of the murder (inscription: "The execution site of April 16, 1945"). A first memorial plaque in the recess of the enclosure wall from 1957 was renewed in 1965. It reads: "On April 16, 1945, the conscientious citizens of the police station Lieutenant Colonel Franz Jürgens · Theodor Andresen Karl Kleppe · Josef Knab · Hermann Weill Our love - your wages fell on this site for the liberation of the city of Düsseldorf from the National Socialist tyranny." April 16, 2014, a new German-English memorial plaque was unveiled, which was designed by vocational students from the Franz-Jürgens-Berufskolleg. The place of execution was entered in the monuments list of the city of Düsseldorf on May 31, 2016.

Three Norns (1958)

The Three Norns memorial in the north cemetery in Derendorf

The “Three Norns” memorial, designed and built between 1954 and 1958 for the victims of the field, the homeland and the political terror by Jupp Rübsam , Ulrich Wolf and Willy Tapp, is in the north cemetery . The monument was erected on the spot where the Schlageter National Monument by Clemens Holzmeister stood from 1931 to 1946 , which was demolished by decision of the Düsseldorf city council. In Norse mythology, the Norns are goddesses of fate.

Plaque "Monument of the 39ers" (1978)

Rübsam dedicated this memorial, which is now in fragments in the area of ​​the Düsseldorf Ehrenhof , to the fallen of the Lower Rhine Fusilier Regiment No. 39 . His main idea was to represent comradeship and mutual help: a soldier puts his hand on the hand of the wounded comrade lying next to him. Rübsam's formal language provoked various reactions even before the monument was erected in 1928: While it was rejected as one of the usual war memorials by the SPD and KPD , it was too little “German” in extremely nationalist circles. The “ Rhenish Secession ” and with it over 400 artists defended Rübsam's work against such attacks and called on those responsible in the city to stand by this monument and thus live up to Düsseldorf's reputation as a city of art. Even before it was demolished by the National Socialists in 1933, the memorial was damaged several times by attacks by right-wing political forces. In 1939 the memorial committee of the Lower Rhine Fusilier Regiment No. 39 had another war memorial erected based on a design by Richard Kuöhl .

In 1978 the city of Düsseldorf erected the torso from the sculpture and the memorial plaque near the Tonhalle.

Memorial stele for Karl Schwesig (1982)

Initiated by Carl Lauterbach , a memorial stone for Karl Schwesig was erected at the Golzheimer Friedhof in Düsseldorf-Pempelfort , which at the same time also reminds of the persecuted Düsseldorf artists Franz Monjau , Julo Levin and Peter Ludwigs , all of whom can be assigned to the context of the Düsseldorf Art Academy and theirs Art was considered "degenerate" during the Nazi era.

Memorial plaque for the politically persecuted in Gerresheim (1986)

In Gerresheim , on November 22, 1986, a bronze plaque was attached to the youth center next to the bunker "Heyebad", Torfbruchstrasse 350, commemorating the resistance fighters from the Glashüttenviertel , formerly a stronghold of workers' resistance . It is dedicated to the memory of all "who had to endure suffering". "The inscription reads: In honor of the victims of the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945".

Remembrance and memorial site of the state capital Düsseldorf (1987)

The Düsseldorf memorial is located in the historic town hall . It was opened on September 17, 1987, has a permanent exhibition and is a venue.

Memorial plaques (1980s)

Memorial plaque SS Torture Cellar, Reuterkaserne 1

In the mid-1980s, numerous bronze memorial plaques were put up, for example on the slaughterhouse wall on Rather Strasse (where the deported Jews were collected ), at the Reuterkaserne (SS torture prison), on the town hall on Mühlenstrasse (police headquarters until 1934) or near the Schlegelkeller.

“From 1933 onwards there was an SS office (Schutzstaffel) in this house. Here opponents of National Socialism were cruelly mistreated in the torture cellars and then deported to concentration camps. "

Memorial plaque with half-relief for Hilarius Gilges (1988)

Memorial plaque for Hilarius Gilges

The half-relief , which commemorates the murder of the Afro-German Hilarius Gilges on June 21, 1933 by the SS, hangs to the left of the Tonhallenpassage (Joseph-Beuys-Ufer). It was created by Hannelore Köhler . The text on the plaque reads:

“Hilarius Gilges, b. on April 28, 1909 in Düsseldorf.
Colored tap dancer and member of the agitprop group W. Langhoffs.
Murdered by the National Socialists on June 20, 1933 in Düsseldorf. "

Commemorative plaque at the Stoffeler Kapelle subcamp (1988)

On May 28, 1988, on Stoffeler Kapellenweg 188, near the Kolvenbach house, a notice has been pointing out that a satellite camp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was located here. The memorial plaque reads: “From October 1942 to February 1943 there was a satellite camp of Sachsenhausen concentration camp here. In Düsseldorf there were a total of six external detachments from various concentration camps. At least 111 of the 500 prisoners in this subcamp on Stoffeler Kapellenweg, who were mainly used to clear rubble, died. Their deaths are a warning to us ”.

Memorial plaque on the "Höherweg Gypsy Camp" (1993)

Memorial plaque "Gypsy camp Höherweg"

The board on Höherweg / Posener Straße was unveiled on July 5, 1993 on the occasion of Otto Pankok's 100th birthday. The German artist and sculptor had made friends with the Sinti in the early 1930s until they were expelled, and had taken a close part in their lives. The text reads: “IN MEMORY OF THE DÜSSELDORFER SINTI WHO BECAME VICTIMS OF GENOCIDE DUE TO NATIONAL SOCIALISM IN THE HÖHERWEG CAMP. FROM 1937 TO 1945, MORE THAN 200 DÜSSELDORF SINTI INTERNS WERE IN THE HÖHERWEG CAMP. IN THE INHUMAN CONDITIONS IN THE CAMP, MANY OF THEM DIED; OVER 100 HAVE BEEN DEPORTED AND MURDERED FROM THERE. "

Memorial plaque "Book Burning" (1993)

Memorial plaque book burning 1933, Heinrich Heine, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, from 1993.jpg

On December 14, 1993, a memorial plaque to commemorate the book burning was unveiled in the immediate vicinity of the Tonhalle (formerly the planetarium), the historic site of the first book burning in Düsseldorf on April 11, 1933, with the text: “ » ... where you can buy books If you burn, you also burn people in the end. ” / Heinrich Heine / As a warning reminder of the book burning organized by the National Socialists, which took place in front of this house on April 11, 1933 and on May 11, 1933 throughout the Reich. / Donated by citizens of the city of Düsseldorf in 1993. "

Memorial / honorary grave for the resistance fighters from April 16, 1945 (1995)

The memorial at the Düsseldorf North Cemetery was created by Peter Rübsam and inaugurated on April 16, 1995. It commemorates the executed resistance fighters of Aktion Rheinland : Franz Jürgens , Theodor Andresen , Karl Kleppe , Josef Knab and Hermann Weill .

Memorial "Ehra or Child with Ball" (1997)

Ehra or child with a ball in Carlstadt

The sculpture Ehra or Child with Ball by Otto Pankok was set up on the 52nd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, January 27, 1997, at the old harbor basin in Carlstadt . It commemorates the persecution and murder of the Düsseldorf Sinti. The accompanying plaque bears the inscription “In memory of the Sinti and Roma who were victims of genocide as a result of National Socialism. This figure of the Sinti girl Ehra was created by the artist Otto Pankok (1893–1966) in memory of his friends from Düsseldorf Sinti, of whom over 100 were transported from the Höherweg camp and murdered. The girl Ehra herself was one of the few concentration camp survivors. ”The inauguration took place in the presence of Eva Pankok .

"Stumbling blocks" (since 2003)

Between 2003 and March 2010, a total of 230 Stolpersteine ​​were laid across the entire city by the Cologne artist Gunter Demnig . They are reminiscent of individuals who were murdered by the National Socialists and are lying on the sidewalk at their last place of residence - see list of stumbling blocks in Düsseldorf . In June 2012 another stone was laid for a Jewish lawyer before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court ; on January 27, 2013, more for Jewish victims and a Düsseldorf homosexual. Also on August 28, 2014 and in late summer 2015.

Memorial plaque for Moritz Sommer (2005)

The Jewish plumber Moritz Sommer was able to successfully hide from the Nazis until 1945. Only two days before the American invasion, an army patrol spotted him and showed no mercy. The 72-year-old was hanged and put on display on April 16, 1945 on the Oberbilker Markt without trial. The plaque was unveiled on April 14, 2005. The inscription reads: “The 72-year-old Jewish fellow citizen Moritz Sommer was hanged on April 16, 1945 in Oberbilker Markt. He was suspected of helping deserters. An army patrol carried out this crime to deter the population. American troops marched into Düsseldorf two days later. "

Bust for Albert Schöndorff (2005)

On October 6, 2005, the city of Düsseldorf officially inaugurated a square in front of the headquarters of the Düsseldorf-Ost housing cooperative in the Lierenfeld district in honor of the Jewish employer, co-founder of the workers' building association “Freiheit” and city councilor Albert Schöndorff. A bust of Albert Schöndorff with a memorial plaque was unveiled in the presence of the mayor Joachim Erwin and the chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany Paul Spiegel .

Hartoch stele (2007)

On October 12, 2007, a bilingual memorial stele was inaugurated in the old town on the corner of Flinger Strasse and Schneider-Wibbel-Gasse, reminding of the Düsseldorf department store Hartoch . The modern department store with Art Nouveau facade and glass passage was one of the largest in Europe at the time with 2500 m². As a result of the global economic crisis, the Hartoch family had to file for bankruptcy in 1932, which could not be averted even through cooperation with the Woolworth Group. Only a few family members managed to flee from Nazi persecution abroad.

Memorial plaque for Chaplain Rossaint (2010)

Memorial plaque for Chaplain Rossaint

On the initiative of the VVN-BdA and the Catholic Church in Düsseldorf, a memorial plaque for the resistance fighter and chaplain Joseph Cornelius Rossaint was attached to a tower of the Church of St. Mary's Conception (Düsseldorf) on April 28, 2010 .

Historical path "Path of Liberation" (2011)

Station 1 on the Path of Liberation in Unterbilk

The Path of Liberation is a history project in the city of Düsseldorf and in the district town of Mettmann . It commemorates the end of the war in the Rhenish-Westphalian region and the liberation of the city of Düsseldorf in April 1945 ( Aktion Rheinland ). The path was inaugurated on April 17, 2011 by Mayor Dirk Elbers .

Memorial at the former freight yard (2012)

On April 22, 2012, a memorial was inaugurated south of the Jülich Bridge by Mayor Elbers in memory of the deportations from the administrative district (1941–1945). This "place of remembrance" commemorates the 6,000 Jews from the Lower Rhine who were deported to Nazi ghettos and camps via the former Düsseldorf-Derendorf freight yard . Railway sleepers embedded in the ground, rails and a 40-meter-long steel wall bearing the names of the destinations Litzmannstadt, Minsk, Riga, Theresienstadt, Izbica and Auschwitz, as well as an information stele form an ensemble of remembrance at the historically authentic site. The memorial is illuminated in the evening and night. In the area further south on Schinkelstrasse there is another information pillar.

Stele for Julo Levin (2014)

On November 27, 2014, a stele was unveiled on Julo-Levin-Ufer in the Medienhafen, commemorating Julo Levin and donated by the Monjau-Levin Foundation.

Memorial plaque at the Volkshaus Düsseldorf (2015)

On May 2, 2015, on the initiative of the DGB and the Düsseldorf Jonges, a plaque was attached to the Volkshaus in Düsseldorf to commemorate the storming by the SA and SS on May 2, 1933.

Stele for Hilarius Gilges (2015)

The stele was unveiled by Mayor Thomas Geisel on June 21, 2015, the 82nd anniversary of Hilarius Gilges ' death , at the place where his body was found in 1933. The initiative went back to District Representation 1.

Place of remembrance of the old slaughterhouse (2016)

On 18 February 2016, the livestock market hall has been preserved of the former Düsseldorf slaughter and cattle farm, which now houses the at the entrance of the university library of the University of Dusseldorf is the remembrance Age slaughterhouse opened. The place of remembrance documents the crimes of the deportations and commemorates the almost 6,000 Jewish men, women and children from the entire district of Düsseldorf who were deported to ghettos and concentration camps in occupied Eastern Europe in a total of seven deportations between October 1941 and September 1944. The Düsseldorf slaughterhouse was the central deportation collection point for the Jewish population of the entire administrative region. The memorial site was designed and realized by members of the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences . Its creation was accompanied by a "round table" and supported by numerous supporters.

Commemorative signs for the five Düsseldorf subcamps (2017)

The uniformly designed commemorative signs for the five Düsseldorf concentration camp subcamps, a project of the Dusseldorf reminder and memorial site, was supported by Düsseldorf schools with processing one camp each from the five districts concerned.

See also

List of memorials for the victims of National Socialism

literature

  • Rolf Purpar: Art City Düsseldorf. Objects and monuments in the cityscape. 2nd edition Grupello-Verlag, Düsseldorf 2009.
  • Ulrike Puvogel, Martin Stankowski: Memorials for the Victims of National Socialism. A documentation. Volume 1. 2nd revised and expanded edition. Federal Agency for Civic Education , Bonn 1996. bpb.de (PDF)
  • Udohaben: Düsseldorf on foot or by bike. 19 city tours through the past and present. Food 2009.
  • Hildegard Jakobs, Carolin Huber, Vera Luchtenberg: Traces of time in Düsseldorf. A city guide. 2nd ext. Edition. Edited by the support group of the Düsseldorf Memorial and Memorial, Düsseldorf 2003.
  • Hildegard Jakobs: "A person is only forgotten when his name is forgotten". Tours to the “stumbling blocks” in Düsseldorf (part 1). In: moment. Reports, information and documents from the Düsseldorf Memorial 32/33 (2006), pp. 20–21.
  • Hildegard Jakobs, Angela Genger, Andrea Kramp (eds.): Stolpersteine. Memories of people from Düsseldorf, Erkrath, Monheim, Langenfeld and Ratingen. (German / English), Droste-Verlag, Düsseldorf 2012

Individual evidence

  1. List of monuments of the city of Düsseldorf: inprobauauskunft.duesseldorf.de . As of November 7, 2017
  2. ^ Stephan Zwicker: "National Martyrs": Albert Leo Schlageter and Julius Fučík. Hero cult, propaganda and culture of remembrance . Verlag Schöningh, Paderborn 2006, p. 94 ( digitized version )
  3. The 39er memorial by Jupp Rübsam in front of the planetarium (today Tonhalle) , photo: Robert Franck (1928), accessed July 5, 2015
  4. Forays through a green city of art , travel tips Süddeutsche.de, accessed on July 5, 2015.
  5. duesseldorf.de/mahn-und-gedenkstaette
  6. hilarius-gilges.de
  7. Gedenkorte.sintiundroma.de
  8. Literature: Karola Fings , Frank Sparing, Johanneskirche (Düsseldorf) : "Oh, friends, where have you gone?" Otto Pankok and the Düsseldorf Sinti. 2. verb. Edition. 2006. With num. historical photos, as well as reproductions of Panko's "gypsy pictures". Also available as a traveling exhibition
  9. ^ Georg Arnold: Book burning in Düsseldorf - April 11th in front of the planetarium; in: Places of the book burnings in Germany 1933. Ed. by Julius H. Schoeps and Werner Treß, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2008, pp. 270–277.
  10. Angela Genger: Memorial Days - Political Education or Ritual? New forms of remembrance, in: Moment. Reports, information and documents from the Düsseldorf Memorial, No. 16, Düsseldorf 2000, pp. 8–9.
  11. wz-newsline.de
  12. ^ State capital Düsseldorf, district 3 (Ed.): 1933–1945. Individual fates and experiences of citizens who live in the area of ​​today's city district 3. Volume 2: Moritz Sommer, Düsseldorf 1986.
  13. rp-online.de
  14. duesseldorf.de
  15. marienkirche-duesseldorf.de
  16. duesseldorf.vvn-bda.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / duesseldorf.vvn-bda.de  
  17. ^ Karl Heinz Jahnke, Alexander Rossaint: Main defendant in the Berlin Catholic trial in 1937: Chaplain Dr. Joseph Cornelius Rossaint. Frankfurt a. M. 2002.
  18. rp-online.de
  19. rp-online.de