Cathedral guard

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Memorial plaque for the cathedral guard during the Second World War in Aachen Cathedral

The Domwache (actually the Dom fire fighting group ) was a group of young people between the ages of 10 and 24 who protected Aachen Cathedral from July 1941 by setting up fire and fire wards at night and doing fire-fighting after bomb attacks on the church building to have.

history

The group outside of church, public or party political structures was initiated by the cathedral builder Joseph Buchkremer , who was concerned about the survival of the Carolingian building. He commissioned his son Stephan Buchkremer with the fire protection for the building , against resolute resistance also from church dignitaries . This spoke spontaneously to some young people who were in the vicinity of the cathedral. Little by little the group was complemented by friends of the young people. The majority of the young people are between 14 and 16 years old. Buchkremer trained the group in a targeted manner in fire fighting . Above all, the winding attic storeys in the cathedral had to be reached quickly to the furthest corners, even when there was a lot of smoke.

From 1943 to 1944, the Domwache had the cathedral several times extinguishing operations to perform, for example, on July 15, 1943 October 18, 1943, December 24, 1943, January 8, 1944, and April 11, 1944. As the official in subsequent years of the war disaster managers always were more overwhelmed, the cathedral guard also took over the fire protection of the surrounding buildings (Domhof, Sparkasse ) and the rescue of affected residents of the Aachen city center. From 1944, Stephan Buchkremer and the Domwache organized the entire water supply in Aachen city center through a system of hemp hoses because the drinking water supply had failed. The cathedral guard opposed the evacuation order of September 1944, which provided for the evacuation of the entire city of Aachen. The 16-year-old Helmuth Jansen took over the management of the group for four months.

After the American troops had taken the city, the young people, like all residents of Aachen, were taken to the internment camp in Brand . An American art protection officer recognized the need for fire protection in Aachen and appointed the young people to be the first fire brigade in the city after the end of the war.

Members

Members of the cathedral guard were Stephan Buchkremer, Adelheid Collette (later Mrs. Buchkremers, at 24 the oldest in the cathedral guard), Liselotte Erdweg, Kornel Erdweg, Gustav Ackermann (only Protestant member, died in a bomb attack on January 23, 1943), Albert Beckers, Martin Dassen, Hans Dürnholz, Helmut Förster, Klaus Geurten, Helmuth Jansen, Walter Meven, Willi Minartz, Adolf Müllender (youngest member at the age of 10), Karl Josef Müllender, Ulrich Noppeney, Karl Pieper, Karl Pierotti (Italian citizen), Theo Philipp and Georg Stockem.

Awards and honors

Commemorative plaque for the “Dom fire fighting group” with a photo by Hans Königs : The bombing raid on Aachen, taken from Krefelder Strasse on July 10, 1941
  • 1995: Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia for the surviving members of the cathedral guard
  • 1995: Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class for the co-founder of the Aachen Cathedral Guard, Stephan Buchkremer for his services to the preservation of the Aachen Cathedral, for the care of his fellow citizens in the Second World War and the safeguarding of cultural and historical values ​​in the Second World War (Aachen Cathedral Guard)

As a reminder of the fire fighting group, a commemorative plaque with a photograph by Hans Königs was installed in the cathedral courtyard , showing the heavy air attack on Aachen city center on July 10, 1941, which triggered the establishment of the cathedral guard. Stephan Buchkremer designed a 20 cm large lead glass pane for the members of the cathedral guard with the view of the south side of the Aachen cathedral and the inscription: Bravery and loyalty save the Aachen cathedral 1942 - 1945 .

Today's "Domwache"

In the 1950s, volunteers for night security duty were sought and found among Aachen's Catholic student body. As members of the Catholic University Community, the KDSt.-V. Franconia Aachen re-established, its members also began to take part in the night tours. In the course of time only members of the KDStV Franconia provided this "cathedral guard". This has remained the case to this day.

Television documentary

  • The cathedral is the soul of Aachen - the house of God under the swastika, WDR television , 2005

literature

  • Hanns-Joachim Engels: The activity of the Dom fire fighting group 1941–1945. In: Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsverein 76, 1964, p. 519 ff.
  • Hans Hoffmann: Aachen's cathedral in a firestorm. The thousand war nights of the girls and boys in the cathedral guard 1941–1945 . Droste, Düsseldorf 1984, ISBN 9783770006441 .
  • Hermann Weisweiler: Stefan Buchkremer. Flame knight, cathedral rescuer and photographer . Aachen 1997, ISBN 3-89124-330-8 .
  • Karl Schein, Roland Wentzler: "Hope and certainty" - Aachen's cathedral and cathedral treasure in the war and post-war period . Publication series Karlsverein-Dombauverein , Volume 8, Thouet Aachen 2006.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Der Spiegel.de: A thousand nights of fear and adventure , accessed on March 23, 2014.
  2. ↑ a b c Dom fire fighting group (1941–1945) on aachen-stadtgeschichte.de.
  3. ↑ Der Spiegel.de: A thousand nights of fear and adventure , accessed on March 23, 2014.
  4. ↑ Ulrich Noppeney: A boy from the cathedral guard remembers . In: Hans Jürgen Roth (Hrsg.): House of two worlds - 1200 years of Aachen Cathedral . Kühlen 1999, ISBN 978-3874482035 , p. 210 ff.
  5. ^ History of Aachen in data , p. 619 [1]
  6. ↑ Viktoriaschule Aachen: Viktoria Aktuell 2/2007 , p. 8.
  7. ^ History of the City of Aachen 1995 , accessed on March 23, 2014.
  8. ↑ Karl Schein, Roland Wentzler: "Hope and Certainty" - Aachen's cathedral and cathedral treasure in the war and post-war period . Publication series Karlsverein-Dombauverein, Volume 8, Thouet Aachen 2006, p. 4 f.
  9. ^ With laptop and sleeping bag we go to the cathedral at night , Aachener Zeitung, 23 December 2009.
  10. ↑ The cathedral is the soul of Aachen , WDR television , 2005.