Deutschmeister monument
The Deutschmeister monument is a memorial on Deutschmeisterplatz in Vienna's 1st district, Innere Stadt . It was the first large monument of the Danube Monarchy that was not dedicated to a single person but to a unit of troops. The 1945 Deutschmeister monument may also have served as a model for the Red Army hero monument on Schwarzenbergplatz .
Infantry Regiment No. 4 Hoch- und Deutschmeister
The Hoch- and Deutschmeister were founded at the time of the Turkish Wars in 1695 in Donauwörth . Contrary to tradition, the new regiment was not named after the owner Franz Ludwig Duke of Bavaria, Count Palatine of Neuburg, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, but after his office, namely " German Master ".
The most important battles in regimental history include those of Zenta against the Turks (September 11, 1697) and of Kolin against Prussia (June 18, 1757).
On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the regiment, in 1895 the highest resolution was passed to relocate the high and German masters from the Moravian garrisons Jihlava and Brno back to Vienna.
history
On the occasion of the jubilee, the City Council of Vienna decided to erect a monument, but for financial reasons was not able to erect it without financial support from the population. The city itself provided 20,000 crowns. Furthermore, in the municipal council meeting of July 10, 1896, the Deutschmeisterplatz, named on September 26, 1876, between Maria-Theresien-Straße and Schottenring near the Rossauer barracks was determined as the location for the planned monument.
The foundation stone was laid on September 7, 1896 in the presence of numerous prominent people (Prime Minister Kasimir Felix Badeni , Governor Erich Graf Kielmannsegg , Mayor Josef Strobach and in the double function as representative of the imperial family and as regiment owner Archduke Eugen von Österreich-Teschen ).
In 1898, Karl Lueger warned city councilor Felix Hraba that the Deutschmeister rifle corps , which had meanwhile been established and led by the city council, should take care of the erection of the Deutschmeister monument and less of other matters.
After the official approval for the organization of a Deutschmeister monument lottery was granted, the Deutschmeister Schützenrat was constituted as the Deutschmeister monument committee on September 27, 1899. At the request of this committee, Archduke Eugen deigned to announce on October 9, 1899 that he would comply with the request to assume the protection of honor.
After posters referred to this lottery with the drawing on October 4th of that year - the name day of Emperor Franz Joseph I - from February 1900 onwards, the Rifle Council initially limited itself to its activities as part of the rifle corps.
Subsequently, the question of whether a competition for the design of the monument should be held or not was controversial. After this problem was resolved, a competition was announced.
On February 11, 1903, the winners of the competition were determined. The first prize was awarded by the jury to Hans Bitterlich , the second to Wilhelm Seib and the third to Artur Straßer and Rudolf Dick , who competed together.
At the meeting of the Monument Committee on February 15, 1903, however, the members found that the award-winning designs did not meet their expectations. However, there were several rejected works that were more to the liking of the committee members.
On March 2, a select committee selected four papers. After an exhibition in the town hall and further meetings of the monument committee, the artists were notified of the change requests.
In the decisive meeting on October 19, 1903 in the Vienna City Hall, draft number 9 (“With God for Emperor and Fatherland”) by Johannes Benk was finally determined to be implemented. After further discussions with Johannes Benk, a cost estimate of 192,860 crowns was established. However, this did not include the cost of building the foundation. The ceremonial unveiling took place on September 29, 1906.
During a mass meeting in front of the Deutschmeisterdenkmal on November 1, 1918, the communist Red Guard was founded by Corporal Haller, the journalist Egon Erwin Kisch and the typesetter Leo Rothziegel .
The damage caused during the Second World War was repaired by decision of the Vienna City Council in 1957. In 1998 the Deutschmeisterdenkmal was restored one more time at a cost of 1.5 million schillings, and the staircase was repaired in 2006
description
The Deutschmeister monument stands in a partially fenced-in green area that can be reached via steps and was designed as a multi-part monument. Important events from the history of the regiment are presented.
The creator of the monument is Johannes Benk . The solution of the architectural problems, especially the design of the slightly hanging square, was the task of the architect Anton Weber (1858–1942). The casting work was carried out by the art foundryman Hans Frömmel, head of the J. Frömmel's Sons company in Vienna. The stone parts from the Konopischter granite works of Archduke Ferdinand d'Este set up the master stonemason Andrea Francini.
In designing the monument, Johannes Benk oriented himself primarily towards the three great historical war epochs of the Turkish Wars , the Seven Years War and the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon I , but also added other elements.
First epoch - Turkish wars
The battle of Zenta is depicted with the relief "Baptism of Fire at Zenta (1697)". This representation is on the front of the monument facing the Ringstrasse.
Second epoch - Seven Years War
The second main epoch of the regiment is shown in the relief " Count Soro near Kolin " on the back of the memorial.
Both reliefs are not worked as a flat surface, but rather as sections of a steep cone.
On both images, the respective commanders Damian Hugo von Virmont and Soro are modeled with exact portraits. Major General Franz Rieger recognized the facial features of the current regimental commander, Colonel Hugo Daler, in the relief image of Count Soro.
Third main epoch - Wars of Liberation
With the two groups of figures " The Grenadier von Landshut (1809) " and " The loyal comrade (1814) ", heroism and brotherhood in arms are symbolized in addition to the third main epoch.
Vindobona
Above the relief " Baptism of Fire at Zenta " sits the allegorical depiction of Vindobona, based on Vienna's coat of arms, who hands the flag leader a laurel wreath. With this representation, the text " The Viennese their German Masters " affixed below the standard bearer is underlined.
Imperial eagle
Opposite the figure of Vindobona on the back of the monument is a representation of the imperial eagle with captured trophies in its claws.
Below is the coat of arms of the Hoch- and Deutschmeister in the middle. To the left is a portrait of the first regimental owner, Duke Franz Ludwig von der Pfalz , and to the right a portrait of the owner, Archduke Eugen, who was present at the time the monument was erected. The inscription “1696 - 1896” is placed under the two pictures.
With this arrangement of the first regimental owner as well as the current regimental owner at the time the monument was erected - and the last in the course of history - Johannes Benk spans another 200 years of regimental history.
Standard bearer
The main character of the Deutschmeister monument represents a advancing flag leader in a modern uniform who raises the faithfully reproduced regimental flag with his left hand and is ready to defend it with the saber in his right hand.
Inscriptions
In addition to the reliefs and figures made of bronze, the monument also bears various inscriptions.
- On the front: " The Viennese for their German champions "
- On the back: " With God for Emperor and Fatherland "
- The most important fights on both sides: " 1712 - Quesnoi 1743 - Campo Santo 1758 - Hochkirchen 1789 - Belgrade 1793 - Retschweiler 1794 - Haspres 1799 - Novi " and " 1809 Ennsdorf, Aspern, Wagram 1813 - Verona 1814 - Valeggio 1849 - Novara 1859 - Bagolino 1866 - Rozberic "
Benk deliberately designed the two reliefs of the Battle of Zenta and the Battle of Kolin to be smaller in order to make them larger than events compared to the French Wars - symbolized by " The Grenadier of Landshut " and " The Faithful Comrade " to take a back seat. Above it rises the standard bearer as a figure of the present.
The portrayal of Vindobona, in turn, is intended to symbolize the city of Vienna as the founder of the monument as well as the loving relationship between the city and its house regiment.
Laurel wreath made of bronze
The wreath lying on the steps to the memorial was added on October 15, 1931 and represents the approximately 5,000 high and Deutschmeister soldiers who died in the First World War . He is called Willy Bormann .
Votive tablets
At the back of the Deutschmeisterdenkmal at the originally 14 steps - today there is only one ramp overgrown with grass - lower Maria-Theresien-Straße two votive plaques with inscriptions on both sides were attached.
The names of the regiment owners since 1697 have been immortalized on the plaque on the Deutschmeisterplatz facing the Danube Canal. The back of this board, which is now difficult to read, bears the names of the “ best of the best ”.
The second plaque bears the inscription: " The infantry regiment Hoch- und Deutschmeister Nr. 4 has participated in 206 battles and skirmishes with a total loss of 407 officers and 20,000 men during its 200-year existence ."
In addition to the battles listed on the monument itself, another 45 battles between 1697 and 1866 were named here. The names of the members of the memorial committee, the participating artists and executing business people were immortalized on the back, but they are also difficult to decipher.
Deutschmeister Memorial March
Wilhelm Wacek (1864–1944), Kapellmeister of the band of the Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiment No. 4 since 1893, Hoch- und Deutschmeister, composed his own march for the Deutschmeisterdenkmal.
literature
- Festschrift for the unveiling of the Deutschmeister monument . Vienna, September 29, 1906, OBV .
- Franz Rieger: The Deutschmeisterdenkmal and the monument art in Vienna . Adolf Holzhausen, Vienna 1910, OBV .
- Felix Czeike (Ed.): Deutschmeisterdenkmal. In: Historisches Lexikon Wien . Volume 2, Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-218-00544-2 , p. 23 ( digitized version , entry in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna).
- Astrid Herold: The Deutschmeister Monument (1906). Homage to the soldiery between honest commemoration and political propaganda . Thesis. University of Vienna, Vienna 2012. - Full text online (PDF; 10 MB).
Web links
- Deutschmeister Journal (PDF file, page 10; 1.3 MB)
- The Deutschmeisterdenkmal - Karl Kraus is blaspheming
- 100 years Deutschmeisterdenkmal
- The Deutschmeisterdenkmal
Individual evidence
- ^ Matthias Marschik, Georg Spitaler (ed.): The Vienna Russian Monument. Architecture, history, conflicts . Turia + Kant publishing house, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-85132-428-5 .
- ↑ Locales. (...) Deutschmeister monument. In: Das Vaterland , Morgenblatt, No. 76/1903 (XLIV. Volume), March 18, 1903, p. 5, center left. (Online at ANNO ). .
- ^ The Deutschmeister monument in Vienna. In: Wiener Bauindustrie-Zeitung , year 1907, No. 15/1907 (XXIV. Year), January 11, 1907, p. 124 (text); Panels 28 ff. (Pictures). (Online at ANNO ). .
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from August 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.wien.gv.at/rk/historisch/1957/maerz.html
- ↑ http://www.wien.gv.at/kultur/abteilung/pdf/kunstbericht1998.pdf
- ↑ http://www.wien.gv.at/kultur/abteilung/pdf/kunstbericht2006a.pdf
- ↑ Festschrift for the unveiling of the Deutschmeister monument
- ↑ The Deutschmeisterdenkmal and monument art in Vienna
- ↑ http://www.deutschmeister.com/history.php
Coordinates: 48 ° 13 ′ 1.6 ″ N , 16 ° 22 ′ 4.7 ″ E