Heldenhain Eberswalde
The Heldenhain is a memorial for the fallen soldiers of the First World War in Eberswalde . It is located on the edge of the Oberheide, south of Georg-Herwegh-Straße, and is a listed building .
history
Planning, construction and decay
On the edge of the Oberheide was the "oak grove" laid out at the beginning of the 19th century. In honor of the chief of the Supreme Army Command Paul von Hindenburg , the oak grove was renamed "Hindenburg-Hain" in the war year 1917.
After the First World War, the Eberswalde city administration decided in 1921 to erect a memorial for the fallen Eberswalde citizens in Oberheide. The well-known Berlin sculptor Hans Dammann was commissioned with the design . The monument created by Dammann consists of a circular building with eight pillars. An entablature with two memorial inscriptions rests on the pillars. In the middle, on a pedestal decorated with boar heads and garlands, stands a massive stone sacrificial bowl. On the inside of the pillars there were 24 bronze plaques with the names of 826 fallen. The memorial was inaugurated on November 22nd, 1925 and was named "Heldenhain". Mayor Ernst Hopf handed it over "in the protection and care of the citizens".
In 1942, during the Second World War , the 300 kg bronze plaques with the names of the fallen were removed as a " metal donation " for war production and melted down. The lists of names of the fallen still exist in the Barnim district archive .
After the Second World War, the complex was no longer maintained, which led to the gradual decline of the war memorial.
Restoration from 2008
Since 2008, measures have been taken to repair the Heldenhains in Eberswalde. In particular the Verein für Heimatkunde zu Eberswalde eV campaigned for the restoration of the Heldenhains as evidence of the commemorative culture typical of the 1920s.
As a first measure, the historical access was restored. Then the Heroes' Grove could be repaired with funding from the Lower Monument Protection Authority and, above all, with donations and substantial contributions from the association. The protective cover for the building and the interior floor was first installed in several stages. Then the graffiti was removed and a graffiti protection was applied.
In May 2014, with the planting around the memorial, the measures to restore the memorial based on the historical model were completed. A plaque set up by the local history association provides information about the history of this urban monument. On the occasion of an event to commemorate the First World War in September 2014, the names of the fallen Eberswalde people were once again attached to the memorial. Long, narrow panels were attached to the eight-column rotunda for two days, similar to the earlier 24 bronze plates.
Individual evidence
- ^ Report on the Heldenhain on the homepage of the Verein für Heimatkunde zu Eberswalde eV
Web links
- City of Eberswalde
- Association for local history to Eberswalde eV
- A piece of Eberswalder history preserved, Eberswalder Blitz
- Memory of more than 800 Eberswalder , Märkische Oderzeitung
- Info flyer of the Heimatverein for PDF download
Coordinates: 52 ° 49 ′ 33.4 " N , 13 ° 49 ′ 28.4" E