Monuments near the Rudelsburg

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Between the world wars

During the German Empire and after the First World War , the corps student associations KSCV and VAC erected four important monuments in front of the Rudelsburg (Saxony-Anhalt). In mid-July 1951 they were blown up in the GDR . The decayed and overgrown remains were exposed after German reunification until 2007 and renewed and replaced as far as possible.

Imperial Obelisk

TO THE MEMORY OF HIS MAJESTY THE HOSTELY EMPEROR WILHELM I
IN FAITHFUL AND DEED. THE GERMAN CORPORATE STUDENTS. Pentecost 1890

In honor of the first emperor of the Prussian-German Empire, who died in 1888, the so-called Kaiserstein was unveiled on May 25, 1890. The obelisk was created by Ernst Paul, Dresden. It represents the phase of Wilhelminism in the German corps. Overgrown in the GDR, it was cleared by the KSCV in 1990 and restored from 1996 to 1998. The portrait relief and the dedication were destroyed in 1953 and were remade.

Monument to the fallen 1870/71

Wreath of the monument to the fallen in Kosen

In honor of the corps students who died in the Franco-German War , the KSCV had the monument erected. The names and corps affiliations of 145 fallen soldiers have been handed down. The monument was financed solely by the Active Association because there was no association of old corps students yet. Completed in just two months, it was the first specifically student memorial for the war of 1870/71 in the German Empire. It was consecrated at the Kösener Congress in 1872.

Its original 14.5 m high structure was symbolic: the four corners of the platform represented the German kingdoms, the 24 balusters the federal states. The pedestal showed inscriptions on marble slabs on all sides with the dedication and the names of the 138 (or 234) fallen. The 6.50 m high victory column with the Horace quote Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori carried the gold-plated imperial eagle with a span of 2.30 m.

In the GDR , the column was destroyed in 1953. The base has been preserved (see Commons). At the request of the VAC monument commissioner, Bundeswehr pioneers from Weißenfels searched and found the upper column parts in the Saale in 2000. The eagle must have shattered. Heavy recovery equipment could not be brought in because of the heavily frequented and electrified Saale Valley Railway. Individual parts of one of the wreaths were found and picked up by a Swiss student historian during the GDR era on the base of the monument; As a Swiss citizen, he was able to enter the GDR unmolested. In 1977 the Swiss student historian donated the fractions to the current owner. He had the fragments put together again by a stone mason. The originally four Immortelle wreaths were braided with ribbons and decorated the corner post knobs of the balustrade .

The first renovation measures on the base were initiated in 1995/96. In 2007 the restoration was completed with the installation of new granite tablets with the names of the fallen. A complete reconstruction was waived in order to leave the traces of history of the destruction in the early 1950s visible.

Jung Bismarck Monument

The Jung-Bismarck monument from 1895/96 was erected as the first joint effort by the Association of Old Corps Students (VAC) on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Prince Otto von Bismarck , himself an old man of the Corps Hannovera Göttingen . Of the innumerable Bismarck monuments in Germany, this was the only one that showed the first imperial chancellor in bronze as a casually sitting young man with a couleur ribbon around his chest and a student basketball racket in his hand. Of course, this also included his student dog, a Great Dane named Ariel . The concept of portraying Bismarck as a young man in a casual demeanor sparked controversial discussions, but was approved by himself on April 27, 1895. The execution was carried out by the sculptor Norbert Pfretzschner . In the GDR, this monument was destroyed by the FDJ in 1951/1952 . The foundation stone with certificates and Bismarck's student cap was salvaged from the base by East German fraternity students during the GDR era and handed over to the Kösener SC Association after reunification. On May 29, 1998, students from the Corps Hannovera Göttingen donated a memorial at the site of the old Bismarck monument.

A replica of the original monument was inaugurated on April 1, 2006 by the KSCV in the presence of Curt Becker , the Minister of Justice of Saxony-Anhalt. The sculptor was Andreas Belser from Traunstein, the casting work was carried out by the Otto Strehle art foundry in Winhöring near Altötting. Numerous members of the Corps Hannovera were present at the inauguration, and they were also significantly involved in the realization and financing of the replenishment. However, the memorial has already been damaged again by souvenir hunters or vandalism.

All the coats of arms of those corps that donated for the replenishment are embedded in the fence around the monument, so the fence is part of the work.

Lion Monument

HIS BROTHERS WHO FALLED FOR GERMANY IN 1914–1918 MORE THAN
TWO THOUSAND CREATED THIS MONUMENT OF THE KÖSENER SC

The Lion Monument was erected in 1926 in the quarry in front of the Rudelsburg, on the site of the former outer bailey. It honors the 2,360 Kösener Corps students who died in the First World War . The relief shows an oversized lion, hit by lances but ready to fight, facing west. The lion monument was created by the Berlin sculptor Hermann Hosaeus , who was supported by the Berlin architect Erich Blunck . The Philipp Holzmann AG took over the construction. At the inauguration on October 26, 1926, all 116 corps were represented. Present were Max Le Blanc (University of Leipzig) and Paul Menzer (University Hall) as well as the Mayor of Bad Kosen and Naumburg.

The memorial message comes from Theodor Körner :

They endured battles and storms
And stood faithful to virtue, right and duty .
Fate can crush the hero's chest ,
But it does not bend a hero's will .

After the German reunification , the ingrown memorial was exposed, restored and given new memorial plaques for those who died in both world wars.

Alliance stone

In 1997, the member associations of the Rudelsburg Alliance erected a memorial stone on the tenth anniversary of the first public appearance of student associations in the GDR on the Rudelsburg. As early as 1987, a small concrete block was poured next to the Bismarck memorial. This "old alliance stone" is still in its original location today.

  • Fallen memorial

  • Imperial Obelisk

  • Jung-Bismarck

  • Lion Monument (1926)

  • Lion Monument (2011)

literature

  • Christian Kahlenberg: rubble in the Saale. The monument to the fallen of the Kösener Corps students (1870/71) . Once and Now, Yearbook of the Association for Corporate Student History Research, Vol. 47 (2002), pp. 313-319.
  • Rüdiger Kutz: The chronicle of the Rudelsburg and its monuments . Once and now , special issue 1993

Web links

Commons : Monuments near the Rudelsburg  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Stern , issue 30, July 29, 1951
  2. ↑ Annual report of the entire committee of the Association of Old Corps Students for 1900 , pp. 19–22
  3. ↑ Monument ensemble at the Rudelsburg now complete. In: Corps 4/2007, p. 29.
  4. ↑ Monument ensemble at the Rudelsburg now complete. In: Corps 4/2007, p. 29.
  5. ↑ Inauguration of the Jung-Bismarck-Monument . In: Corps 2/2006, p. 11f.