Memorial to the victims of the tyranny (Trier)
The monument to the victims of the tyranny of 1933 - 1945, also known as the Great Kneeling Man , is a life-size bronze sculpture on a stone plinth in Trier's main cemetery . It is in the northern part of the cemetery. The Jewish burial ground of Trier's main cemetery is right next to the memorial .
A naked kneeling man is shown. He is leaning on a stone with his left hand clenched into a fist, the fist of his right hand is in front of his face. Instead of lying on the floor, the man rears up with the last of his strength. The figure represents the pain, humiliation, suffering and isolation of the victims in the atrocities of the Nazi regime .
The monument was cast by H. Leidel in Cologne based on a design by the Trier sculptor Michael Trierweiler (1908–1998). It is one of Michael Trierweiler's main works. He was a trained stonemason and studied art at the Werkkunstschule in Trier , the Cologne Werkschule and in 1933 during a study visit to Paris for which he was furiously attacked by the Nazi press. After being drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1940 and being a prisoner of war, he returned to Trier in 1946 and was the head of the sculpture class at the Werkkunstschule until 1956. During this time he was a member of the Trier artists' association "Trier Secession". The sculptor's grave is in the immediate vicinity of the monument.
The memorial was controversial when it was erected, was often misunderstood and was only properly appreciated decades later. In the prudish 1950s, it was mainly the figure's nudity that aroused people's feelings. Only a few people from public life attended the inauguration ceremony and the cemetery authorities were asked to plant thicker vegetation. Another discussion went about whether the memorial should only stand for the tyranny of the Nazi dictatorship or also for the atrocities of Stalin .
literature
- Ulrike Weber (arrangement): City of Trier. City expansion and districts. (= Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . Volume 17.2 ). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2009, ISBN 978-3-88462-275-9 , p. 56 .
- Entry on memorial for the victims of tyranny (Trier-Nord, Trier municipality, Hostpitalsmühle) in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ; accessed on April 29, 2018.
- Memorial to the victims of the National Socialist tyranny 1933–1945. Retrieved April 29, 2018 .
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 46 ′ 8.9 " N , 6 ° 39 ′ 18.8" E