Memorial to those who fell in the 1866 campaign

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The "monument to the fallen of the campaign of 1866" on the bell mountain in Koblenz, seen by Rheinanlagen from
The monument from a north-easterly perspective with a view of the southern suburb and the Karthauses, the Rhine and the two Rhine bridges in Koblenz (May 2020)
Side view of the war memorial

The memorial for the fallen in the campaign of 1866 is a Prussian war memorial in Koblenz , which is located on the Glockenberg in the Asterstein district. The memorial was erected near Fort Asterstein for Prussian soldiers who died in the German War of 1866 .

history

After the German War of 1866, officers of the Prussian VIII Army Corps had the monument erected in 1869 in the garden of the engineer officers west of the flank tower of Fort Asterstein. It is thus in the line of sight of the Clemensplatz on the other side of the Rhine , the former large parade ground of the city, but is also in sight of the Electoral Palace and the entire banks of the Rhine in Koblenz. The monument was designed by the cathedral sculptor Christian Mohr from Cologne . Master stonemason Grot from Brohl carried out the construction of the monument, the plaques come from the master stonemason Wiehl and the surrounding reliefs from the Cologne cathedral building . The solemn inauguration of the monument took place on July 3, 1869 in the presence of the commanding general of the VIII Army Corps, Karl Eberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld . Up until the 1920s, war veterans met for reunion celebrations and commemorative events at the monument, the area around which was designed as a garden.

During the Second World War , the monument was slightly damaged, the original crowning of the obelisk, a cross, was lost, and parts of the inscriptions were also destroyed. At the end of the 1970s, a restoration took place in which the damage was repaired with artificial stone, but the crown and parts of the inscriptions are missing. For a long time the monument could no longer be seen from the banks of the Rhine in Koblenz due to the vegetation on the slope. After it was cut open on a private initiative, the city of Koblenz now ensures that the visual reference is maintained through regular maintenance. Since 2019 the memorial has also been illuminated at night, as it is now part of the fortress park at Fort Asterstein .

construction

The monument to the fallen in the campaign of 1866 is a brick obelisk on a cube-shaped pedestal . On this base are three writing plates made of red sandstone with the names of 489 soldiers from 22 Rhenish , East Prussian , Thuringian and Pomeranian regiments. The troops served in the ranks of the so-called Elbe and Main Army. Between the obelisk and the pedestal there is a relief-like festoon band . On the side facing the Rhine, an oak wreath with the year 1866 is attached. On the fourth writing plate on the base below it reads:

“ The comrade, who fell gloriously for the king and fatherland in the campaign of 1866, was erected in honor of his memory by the officers of the Kngl. Preuss. VIII Army Corps "

At the top of the obelisk was a stone copy of the memorial cross for the German War of 1866.

Monument protection

The memorial for the fallen in the campaign of 1866 is a protected cultural monument under the Monument Protection Act (DSchG) and entered in the list of monuments of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . It is located in Koblenz-Asterstein on the Kolonnenweg .

Since 2002, the memorial for those who fell in the campaign of 1866 has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley .

See also

literature

  • Theodor Fontane : The German War of 1866. Volume II: The campaign in West and Central Germany, Appendix: The monuments. Reprographic reprint of the Berlin 1871 edition. Wolfenbüttel: Melchior Verlag 2013. Appendix: Die Denkmäler, p. 40: Memorial for the fallen soldiers of the VIII Army Corps. ISBN 978-3-944289-07-6
  • Energieversorgung Mittelrhein GmbH (ed.): History of the city of Koblenz. Overall editing: Ingrid Bátori in conjunction with Dieter Kerber and Hans Josef Schmidt. Theiss, Stuttgart 1992-1993;
  • Helmut Kampmann: When stones speak. Memorial plaques and memorial plaques in Koblenz. Fuck-Verlag, Koblenz 1992, pp. 251f. ISBN 3-9803142-0-0 .
  • Ulrike Weber (edit.): City of Koblenz. City districts (= monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Vol. 3, 3). Werner, Worms 2013, ISBN 978-3-88462-345-9 .
  • Achim Kloppert: The monuments for the fallen in the Koblenz area. - In: The Saint Barbara and the Artillery in Koblenz, edited by the Association of Friends and Patrons Barbara Monument eV in Koblenz, Koblenz: Garwain-Verlag 2017, pp. 229-252 (here: pp. 229 f.). ISBN 978-3-936436-30-3

Web links

Commons : Memorial to the Fallen in the Campaign of 1866  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Theodor Fontane : Der Deutsche Krieg von 1866, Volume II: The Campaign in West and Central Germany, Appendix: Die Denkmäler, Reprographischer Nachdruck der Berlin 1871, Wolfenbüttel: Melchior Verlag 2013, Appendix: Die Denkmäler, p. 40 : Memorial to the fallen soldiers of the VIII Army Corps.
  2. ↑ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - district-free city of Koblenz (PDF; 1.5 MB), Koblenz 2013

Coordinates: 50 ° 21 ′ 17.8 "  N , 7 ° 36 ′ 45"  E