Deutsches Eck

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The Deutsches Eck at the confluence of the Moselle into the Rhine , on the left edge of the picture the Rheinseilbahn , the Kastorkirche and the Deutschherrenhaus , view from the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress , 2011
The Deutsches Eck in Koblenz, the Moselle in the foreground, the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress on the right bank of the Rhine in the background

The Deutsches Eck is an artificially raised headland in Koblenz where the Moselle flows into the Rhine . In 1897 a monumental equestrian statue of the first German Emperor Wilhelm I was erected here, which was designed as a memorial for the establishment of the German Empire in 1871. The Kaiser Wilhelm monument commissioned by the Rhine Province was in the tradition of many monuments erected between 1888 and 1918 in German-speaking countries.

The base of the statue, which was badly damaged in World War II, served as a memorial to German unity from 1953 to 1990 . A replica of the group of sculptures was put back on the base in 1993 after previous controversial discussions.

The Deutsches Eck is the landmark of the city of Koblenz and a major attraction for tourists . On the left bank of the Rhine, the Rheinanlagen branch off here (Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer), on the right bank of the Moselle the Peter-Altmeier- Ufer.

history

Original meaning

The actual German Corner - Deutschherrenhaus with the cross of the Teutonic Order

Archbishop Theoderich von Wied called the knights of the Teutonic Order to Koblenz in 1216 and gave them part of the grounds of the Castor Church, including the attached St. Nicholas Hospital. His motive for donation was probably to ensure local nursing care. Immediately after the confluence of the Moselle into the Rhine, the order established the German Order Coming Koblenz , which became the seat of the administration ( Ballei ) of the order province of Koblenz, which was directly subordinate to the Grand Master . After the manor house was built, the mouth area was initially called the Deutscher Ordt , and later the Deutsches Eck .

Erection of the Kaiser Wilhelm I monument

In the 19th century, the area was connected to a sand bank in front of a pier to create an emergency port at the mouth of the Moselle. The pier and sandbank were popularly known as Honsschwanz (dog's tail ) in Koblenz because geographically they formed the last foothill of the Hunsrück .

A few weeks after the death of Kaiser Wilhelm I in 1888, the idea arose in public and private circles to erect a monument to the immortalized prince as thanks for the unification of Germany won in three wars (1864, 1866, 1871). Koblenz was among the numerous applicants for the location. The decision of the location was left to the young Kaiser Wilhelm II , who in 1891 chose Koblenz and the site at the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine rivers. After the necessary area had been created by filling in the port and a national collection campaign had raised the required million marks , the Kaiser Wilhelm I monument of the Rhine Province was erected and inaugurated on August 31, 1897 in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm II. In common usage, the name Deutsches Eck has now shifted from the Deutschordensballei to the area of ​​the new monument.

Right from the start, an equestrian statue was only awarded to people who had accomplished extraordinary political or military achievements, as the horse has always been a ruler attribute throughout history. The dynamic that such a static monument conveys contributes to the enlivening of the person depicted. Artistically, the equestrian statue type offered few possibilities; the clients attached great importance to historical accuracy, especially for the Kaiser Wilhelm monuments.

The monument is 37 meters high, with the equestrian statue accounting for 14 meters, with a weight of the bronze statue of 63.5 tons. It is based on the plans of the architect Bruno Schmitz , known for the Kaiser Wilhelm monument at Porta Westfalica , the Kyffhäuser monument and the Völkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig . The sculptor Emil Hundrieser designed the equestrian statue . It shows the emperor in a general's uniform with a flowing coat. A winged female genius , who presents a laurel wreath and the imperial crown , is attached to the equestrian figure at the Deutsches Eck . This is unusual compared to the usual form of the equestrian monument, but can also be found in the national monument in Berlin by Reinhold Begas .

  • The Deutsches Eck and its oldest illustration from 1490 in the Liebfrauenkirche Oberwesel

  • Koblenz in front of the monument around 1875

  • The inauguration of the new monument with the participation of Kaiser Wilhelm II on August 31, 1897

  • Kaiser Wilhelm I monument around 1900

In this Berlin monument, which was built around the same time and whose genius was very similar to that of Hundrieser's Kaiser Wilhelm equestrian statue, Wilhelm II did not raise any objection to the female accompanying figure leading the horse. According to his change requests, she only wears the imperial crown on the Koblenz monument. Reasons for the rejection of the leadership motive can be derived from Wilhelm II's speech at the inauguration of the Koblenz monument. In it he referred to the divine right of his dynasty, i.e. that the will of God had led his grandfather to victory and made him emperor. According to this idea, Wilhelm I had to be led by God and not by a mythological being in the form of a genius.

The front of the monument is decorated with a relief with the imperial eagle, which grabs snakes and harasses enemies. Above it, Wilhelm the Great is carved in large letters , which is to be understood as an attempt by Kaiser Wilhelm II to popularize a title, which, however, did not catch on. The last two verses of the poem Spring Greetings to the Fatherland by the Koblenz poet Max von Schenkendorf can be read on the upper part of the base : The empire will never be destroyed / If you are united and loyal!

Time of the Allied occupation of the Rhineland

The Deutsches Eck as a backdrop for the celebrations after the Allied occupation of the Rhineland in 1930

After the First World War , the Rhineland was occupied by Allied troops. Koblenz was first under the American, then the French military administration. The last French soldiers left the city at the end of November 1929. Immediately tens of thousands of people gathered at the Deutsches Eck to watch the Reich flag being raised on the Ehrenbreitstein fortress.

On July 22, 1930, the memorial was again the backdrop for celebrations after the Allied occupation of the Rhineland . In preparation for this, a total of 28 mushroom lights were permanently installed on the bank and on the monument. On this day, President Paul von Hindenburg visited the Deutsches Eck at the end of his trip through the free Rhineland. After fireworks on the Ehrenbreitstein at the end of the celebrations, a catastrophe broke out near the memorial when a narrow pontoon bridge, overloaded by crowds, collapsed and killed 38 people.

The destruction in World War II

The destroyed equestrian statue, March 1945

The city center was devastated during the air raids on Koblenz . The Kastorkirche and the Deutschherrenhaus fell victim to the flames, while the Deutsches Eck remained largely undamaged.

Shortly before the end of the Second World War , American troops of the 3rd US Army approached the city from the Eifel and began firing with artillery . On March 16, 1945, the equestrian statue was hit by an American artillery shell. Whether this was intentional remained unclear. In connection with the unsubstantiated claim that Dwight D. Eisenhower had demanded the destruction, said Mario Kramp , more likely was "the fear of the Americans that German soldiers were holed up in the memorial area."

The statue now hung deformed and torn from the base towards the Rhine. Parts of the rare copper disappeared until the rest of the statue was dismantled and melted down. Parts of the group of figures reappeared later, including the head of the emperor, which is now in the Middle Rhine Museum in Koblenz . In Koblenz it is said to this day that the copper was used to manufacture new contact wires for the Koblenz tram; It was therefore jokingly referred to as the " longest monument in the world" . However, there is no written evidence of this.

The monument after 1945

The French military government planned to dismantle the base and replace it with a new monument for peace and international understanding . Due to a lack of money, this plan was not implemented. On May 18, 1953, the remaining plinth was converted into a “ memorial to German unity” by Federal President Theodor Heuss . To demonstrate this unity, the coats of arms of all German countries as well as those of the former eastern areas such as Pomerania , Silesia and East Prussia were attached to the base. Four years later, Saarland was also added. The site of the destroyed equestrian statue took Flags stock with the federal flag one. With the reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990, the series of coats of arms was supplemented by the names of the five new federal states.

  • The German Corner with the German flag in 1961

  • Celebrations for the reunification at the Deutsches Eck in 1990, the monument still with the federal flag

  • The original head of the Kaiser Wilhelm I monument, exhibited in the Middle Rhine Museum

  • Base of the monument with national coat of arms

Reconstruction of the equestrian statue in 1993

The reconstructed equestrian statue was lifted back onto its base on September 2, 1993
The Deutsches Eck at night from the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, 2017
The Deutsches Eck at night from the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress , 2017

The former publisher of the Rhein-Zeitung , Werner Theisen , and his wife Anneliese already committed on November 14, 1987 to finance the reconstruction of the destroyed equestrian statue and to donate it to the city of Koblenz. To this end, he founded the citizens' initiative Deutsches Eck e. V. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate, as the owner of the Deutsches Eck, refused the gift on January 29, 1988, pointing out that it had to remain a “memorial to German unity”. An opinion poll among the citizens of Koblenz, commissioned by Theisen in March 1988, showed that 80% agreed to a reconstruction of the monument.

On February 28, 1989, the citizens' initiative and Theisen commissioned the metal sculptor Raimund Kittl from Düsseldorf to reconstruct the group of figures, without any prior agreement with the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate. A fundamental change in the situation occurred with the reunification of Germany in 1990 , because the memorial had lost its meaningful meaning as a unified monument. The CDU-led state government then changed its mind and accepted the gift in September 1990. The new SPD-led state government under Rudolf Scharping came under public pressure from 1991 and tried to reverse the commitment. The project was discussed controversially in Koblenz and beyond. While supporters positive impact on the cityscape of Koblenz and local tourism led to the meeting and referred it that the empty plinth alone have no more meaning, critics complained about the outdated imperial cult and the role of William as Anheizer ( " grape-shot prince") in the bloody course of the March uprisings in Prussia in 1848 and as commander in chief in the suppression of the successful revolution in Baden and the Palatinate .

In May 1992 the state government donated the headland at the Deutsches Eck to the city of Koblenz and thus transferred responsibility for the decision and the costs of the reconstruction to it. Since the completed reconstruction of the equestrian statue already on 16 May 1992 on the Rhine had arrived aboard the MS Futura in Koblenz, the city council was under great pressure and finally accepted the gift on June 4 1,992th Because of the necessary renovation of the base, the group of figures, which had been restored for 3 million DM (corresponds to € 2,347,924 today), remained in the Rheinhafen Koblenz for more than a year until it was lifted onto the base on September 2, 1993 by Europe's largest mobile lattice boom crane . It was set up on Sedan Day, the day of the capitulation of Emperor Napoleon III, but this was only noticed in France.

Kittl no longer used chased copper plates mounted on an iron frame, as was originally the case, but instead created the figure elements from more resistant cast bronze. Here, however, slightly different alloys were used for the individual parts , so that the patina that develops over time now has different colors and the individual cast parts can be clearly distinguished. The changed production technique also resulted in a higher weight of the finished statue, so that the base had to be extensively renovated and reinforced. As a template for the reconstruction, in addition to the few remaining fragments, a reduced replica of the original statue was available, which is kept in the Middle Rhine Museum .

The inauguration of the restored monument took place on September 25, 1993. However, the founder Werner Theisen could no longer experience this, as he had already died on May 5, 1993. Since the restoration of the Deutsches Eck, the monument has once again been one of the first sights in the city of Koblenz for tourists . The criticism of the restoration of the monument is no longer an issue in public, not even with regard to the person of Wilhelm I.

  • Equestrian statue of Wilhelm I
    (replica from 1993)

  • The monument seen from the Rhine (2019)

  • Night shot of the Deutsches Eck

  • The monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I at the Deutsches Eck in 2009

Today three concrete elements of the Berlin Wall commemorate the “Memorial of German Unity” , which according to the bronze plaque are dedicated to the “Victims of the Partition (June 17, 1953 - November 9, 1989)” and which were erected in 1990 next to the monument on the banks of the Moselle. The flags of all federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany, the European Union and the flag of the United States of America are also waving on the shore walls of the base. The victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks are commemorated on the pedestal of the latter.

Federal Garden Show 2011

Aerial photo of the Deutsches Eck during the Federal Garden Show 2011

The city of Koblenz was awarded the contract to host the 2011 Federal Horticultural Show. The area around the German Corner was used as one of the three core areas. The Rhine and Moselle promenades leading to the Deutsches Eck underwent extensive modernization measures. The base of the equestrian statue also had to be renovated in 2009 due to damage. The forecourt of the monument was renewed for the Federal Garden Show, but it remained freely accessible during the event.

The valley station of the Rheinseilbahn built as an attraction for the Federal Garden Show is located near the monument .

The symbolic content of the monument

Rhein in Flammen 2011 in Koblenz , shot down from the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress , in the foreground the Deutsches Eck

Location

The reasons for Wilhelm II's decision to erect the monument at the Deutsches Eck were, on the one hand, the personal connection between Kaiser Wilhelm I and the city of Koblenz, where he was military governor on the Rhine during his time before his coronation as King of Prussia Lived and worked from 1849 to 1857. Furthermore, Wilhelm II saw the connection between the city and the House of Hohenzollern as decisive, since one of the grand masters of the Teutonic Order, which was based at the Deutsches Eck, was the first Hohenzollern to become Duke of Prussia. An equally important point was the importance of the Kastor Church, where the Treaty of Verdun is said to have been prepared around 842 .

The monument, together with the Ehrenbreitstein fortress on the opposite side, rebuilt by Prussia, marked a kind of “ watch on the Rhine ” against France. After the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation dissolved in 1806 at the instigation of Napoleon (see Reichsdeputationshauptschluss ), the areas on the left bank of the Rhine were initially transferred to France and, as a result of the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15, to several successor states to the Holy Roman Empire and thus largely to the later German Empire . The victory over Napoleon was now associated with the river, the Rhine was understood as a national, “German” asset and was strengthened at the Deutsches Eck not only militarily by the Ehrenbreitstein fortress , but also symbolically in art and literature; a kind of "patriotic Rhine romanticism" emerged.

criticism

Well-known criticism did not begin to stir until the end of the German Empire . Democrats complained about the glorification of the faded empire, the pacifist movement saw the monument as the embodiment of Wilhelmine militarism and aspirations for great power. The satirist Kurt Tucholsky wrote in his 1930 report on Denkmal am Deutsches Eck :

“We walked on the wide, tree-lined avenue; […] Then there were no more trees, a free space, I looked up… and almost fell over. It said - Tschingbumm! - a huge monument to Kaiser Wilhelm the First: a stone punch. At first one was breathless. The thing looked like a gigantic cake topper and represented the Germany that was to blame for the war - now we want to thresh them! In Holland."

- Kurt Tucholsky : Monument at the Deutsches Eck

Tourism and event location

Public viewing at Deutsches Eck 2006

The Deutsches Eck has been a tourist attraction since the (first) monument was erected and has remained so to this day.

The area in front of the memorial is now mainly used for major events. In addition to concerts and open-air festivals (the German Krautrock scene met here from 1970 to 1972), the steam spectacle , a presentation of steam-powered rail, water and road vehicles , has already taken place here twice . The area is also included in the event Rhine in Flames , and it is also used as a lookout point for the fireworks at Ehrenbreitstein Fortress . The Deutsches Eck was also the goal of the annual Middle Rhine Marathon from 2005 to 2009 . During the 2006 World Cup , all games were projected onto a large-screen video wall, which attracted up to 9,000 spectators.

Monument protection

The Kaiser Wilhelm Monument is a protected cultural monument according to the Monument Protection Act (DSchG) and entered in the list of monuments of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . It is located in Koblenz's old town in Danziger Freiheit .

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial has been part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002 . Furthermore, it is a protected cultural asset according to the Hague Convention and marked with the blue and white protection symbol.

In 2013, a manufacturer of high-pressure cleaners offered the city of Koblenz to clean part of the monument complex free of charge as a promotion. However, as the costs for scaffolding etc. (to be borne by the city) could not be calculated, the offer was rejected. In addition, the expertise of an institute for stone conservation showed that such cleaning could cause or worsen damage; even the fact that only partial cleaning was planned was viewed critically, as it would create an optically unsatisfactory image.

"Deutsches Eck" as namesake

The term "Deutsches Eck" is often used in Germany as a proper name for institutions and places. There is also a "German Corner" in Oschersleben , which is also a lookout point at a fork in the river ( Bode and Großer Graben ). In Mannheim , in Löveling near Neuss , the Dorsten district of Holsterhausen and the Bavarian Steinlohe on the Czech border, restaurants bear the name "Deutsches Eck". There is a kiosk in St. Goarshausen . There are also bars with this name abroad, for example in Thailand in Bangkok 's Sukhumvit district or in Puerto de la Cruz on Tenerife . A hotel in Temukus on Bali bears this name. In North Rhine-Westphalia there are bus stops in Arnsberg and Büderich (Meerbusch) named after the "Deutsches Eck", as is the case in Kirchdaun in Rhineland-Palatinate . The German musician Tobee published his song “Jetzt ist der Teufel los” in 2015 in a so-called “Deutsches Eck Version”.

See also

literature

  • Energieversorgung Mittelrhein GmbH (ed.): History of the city of Koblenz . Overall editing: Ingrid Bátori in conjunction with Dieter Kerber and Hans Josef Schmidt
    • Volume 1: From the beginning to the end of the electoral era . Theiss, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8062-0876-X .
    • Volume 2: From the French city to the present . Theiss, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8062-1036-5 .
  • Fritz Michel : The art monuments of the city of Koblenz. The profane monuments and the suburbs (The art monuments of Rhineland-Palatinate first volume). Munich / Berlin 1954.
  • Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate, Volume 3.2 City of Koblenz. Downtown. Edited by Herbert Dellwing and Reinhard Kallenbach , Speyer 2004, ISBN 3-88462-198-X .
  • Emil Schüller: The Emperor Monument of the Rhine Province a memorial for all Rhinelander. Scheid, Coblenz 1888 ( digitized version )
  • Klaus Bemmann: German national monuments and symbols through the ages. MatrixMedia, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-932313-23-3 .
  • Christian Dommershausen: The monument of the Rhine Province for Kaiser Wilhelm the Great at the German Corner in Coblenz. Festschrift to celebrate the completion on August 31, 1897. Koblenz 1897 ( digitized version )
  • Ralph Erbar: The equestrian statue of Wilhelm I at the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz. In: Think! Monuments in class. Volume 1: General Monuments. Bad Kreuznach 1997, DNB 956379567 , pp. 187-204 (information from the Bad Kreuznach Pedagogical Center 4/97) ISSN  0938-748X
  • Koblenz contributions to history and culture. New episode 3, 1993, focus on Deutsches Eck, Koblenz 1993.
  • Antje Laumann-Kleineberg: Monuments of the 19th century in conflict. Three case studies for discussion between clients, planners and public critics. Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1989, ISBN 3-8204-0217-9 .
  • Gunnar Mertens: The Kaiser Wilhelm monument at the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz (Rheinische Kunststätten, issue 560). Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-86526-113-7 .
  • Manuel Ruoff: Black-Red-Gold instead of Wilhelm I. Sixty years ago the equestrian statue base at the Deutsches Eck was rededicated as a memorial . Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung , No. 19, May 11, 2013.
  • Heinz Peter Volkert: The Kaiser Wilhelm monument at the German corner. Görres-Verlag, Koblenz 1993, DNB 941191486 .
  • Wolfgang Vomm: Equestrian statues of the 19th and early 20th centuries in Germany. Bergisch Gladbach 1979, DNB 801263433 .
  • Marco Zerwas: Learning place 'Deutsches Eck'. On the variability of historical-cultural interpretation patterns. Berlin 2015, DNB 1067336346 .

Web links

Commons : Deutsches Eck  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Deutsches Eck  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wikisource: Monument at the German Corner  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ - Emperor on horseback. Accessed July 31, 2020 (German).
  2. ^ Wolfgang Vomm: Equestrian statues of the 19th and early 20th centuries in Germany. Bergisch Gladbach 1979, p. 8 ff.
  3. ↑ Heinz Peter Volkert: The Kaiser Wilhelm monument at the German corner. Koblenz, 1993, p. 55.
  4. ↑ Peter Bloch: The equestrian monument. In: Focus on the Deutsches Eck (Koblenz contributions to history and culture. New part 3). Görres-Verlag, Koblenz 1993, pp. 9-30, here p. 22.
  5. ↑ Antje Laumann-Kleineberg: Monuments of the 19th century in conflict. Three case studies for discussion between clients, planners and public critics (Europäische Hochschulschriften, Series 28, Art History, Volume 82). Frankfurt am Main 1989, pp. 208ff.
  6. ^ Katharina Richter, Detlef Wahl: Rheinanlagen mit Rheinfront 1809 to 1983. In: Garten- und Friedhofsamt der Stadt Koblenz (Ed.): Die Rheinanlagen Koblenz. From the beginning until today .
  7. ↑ ( page no longer available , search in web archives: Das Unglück on July 22, 1930 ) in: Rhein-Zeitung , August 5, 2005.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / rhein-zeitung.de
  8. ↑ Former Head of the Middle Rhine Museum in Koblenz, now director of the City Museum in Cologne.
  9. ↑ Heinz-Günther Borck (ed.) U. a .: 60 years ago, War and Peace on the Rhine and Moselle 1944–1945 (publications by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Archives Administration, Volume 105). Koblenz 2005, ISBN 3-931014-67-3 , p. 40 f. and 104.
  10. ↑ ↑ Mario Kramp in: Heinz-Günther Borck (Hrsg.) Ao: 60 Years Ago, War and Peace on the Rhine and Moselle 1944–1945 (Publications of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Archives Administration, Volume 105). Koblenz 2005, ISBN 3-931014-67-3 , p. 40 f. and 104
  11. ↑ A stone lump. In: Der Spiegel , 5/1992.
  12. ↑ Matthias von der Bank / Ines Heisig (ed.): Middle Rhine Museum Koblenz. Selection catalog, Petersberg 2017, pp. 156–157.
  13. ^ Wolfgang Schütz: Koblenz heads. People from the city's history - namesake for streets and squares. - Werner Theisen p. 532f.
  14. ↑ ( page no longer available , search in web archives: equestrian statue now shines in new splendor ) in: Rhein-Zeitung, July 9, 2009.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / archiv.rhein-zeitung.de
  15. ↑ Heinz Peter Volkert: The Kaiser Wilhelm monument at the German corner. Koblenz 1993, p. 16.
  16. ↑ Antje Laumann-Kleineberg: Monuments of the 19th century in conflict. Three case studies for discussion between clients, planners and public critics (Europäische Hochschulschriften, Series 28, Art History, Volume 82). Frankfurt am Main 1989, p. 179.
  17. ↑ Heinz Peter Volkert: The Kaiser Wilhelm monument at the German corner. Koblenz 1993, p. 17.
  18. ^ State Office for Monument Preservation Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Castles, Palaces, Antiquities Rhineland-Palatinate Prussian facets: Rhine romanticism and antiquity. Evidence of the work of Friedrich Wilhelm IV on the Middle Rhine and Moselle. Regensburg 2001, p. 22 f.
  19. ↑ Kurt Tucholsky "Monument at the German Corner" in: textlog.de
  20. ↑ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - district-free city of Koblenz (PDF; 1.5 MB), Koblenz 2013.
  21. ↑ http://www.rhein-zeitung.de/region/lokales/koblenz_artikel,-stadt-scheut-kosten-und-unkalkulbaren-haben-kaercher-reinigt-nicht-das-denkmal-am-eck-_arid,1436460. html

Coordinates: 50 ° 21 ′ 51 ″  N , 7 ° 36 ′ 20.3 ″  E