Yevgeny Fyodorowitsch Ludschuweit

Yevgeny Fjodorowitsch Ludschuweit ( Russian Лудшувейт, Евгений Фёдорович ; * 1899 , †  1966 ) was a Soviet professor of art history and culture officer of the Red Army . In 1965, he was allegedly its supporting role in the rescue of locks and Sanssouci Park for honorary citizen of the city of Potsdam appointed.

prehistory

After the city of Potsdam was badly destroyed in a bomb attack by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces , especially in the historic old town, thousands of people fled the city. At the same time there were around 8,000 to 10,000 German soldiers, mainly consisting of the Volkssturm and Hitler Youth , in the heavily contested city. In the historic park and its surroundings, trenches, bunkers and ammunition stores were dug to defend the city in order to obey the orders of Reich Defense Commissioner Emil Stürtz and combat commander Hellmuth Reymann to keep the city in any case. This order was also nourished by the false hope that Wenck's army , which had already advanced to Ferch, could provide massive support.

The alleged rescue of Sanssouci Park

From April 23, 1945, Soviet low-flying planes attacked the city center near the park. As part of the fighting around the city, Lieutenant Colonel Ludschuweit, technical director of the so-called trophy commission of the 47th Army, was commissioned to form a so-called park army. This was largely kept out of direct fighting and had the task of securing the cultural treasures in the palaces of Sanssouci Park and preparing them for transport as spoils of war.

Ludschuweit packed 650 paintings in about 81 boxes, which were brought from Potsdam to Moscow and Leningrad . In addition, a large number of sculptures , furniture, almost 2,400 porcelains stored in the New Chambers and the libraries were removed. Numerous plants from the orangery castle were also loaded, but most of them froze to death during transport.

The legend

The SED was spinning in the 1960s, the legend, Ludschuweit would have protected its parking army Sanssouci from destruction by the Nazis or by fighting or should the demolition of cultural monuments by the abrückende German Wehrmacht prevent and thus preserve this heritage.

The truth

In fact, the attacking Soviet troops of the 1105th SchtzRgt followed. the 328th SchtzDiv. the pressures of war. The castles and the park were not intensely shelled because they were no longer actively defended after the remnants of the German troops had already been pushed out of the Brandenburg suburb on April 27th and the chief inspector had handed over the New Palace on April 28th from destruction and saved the lives of the 1,000 or so refugees who had hidden in the basement. A new German line of defense had only been set up on the line from the Wildpark train station to the New Palais and the road to Eiche , i.e. outside Sanssouci Park.

On the high points such as on the ruin mountain , the Belvedere on the Klausberg and the dome of Sanssouci Palace, suspected German observation posts and fire control stations were consistently fired on by Soviet artillery. The New Palais and the adjoining Communs were also fired on beforehand, as the headquarters of the Reymann Corps Group were temporarily quartered there.

It is worth noting, however, that the Soviet troops, who suffered heavy losses when they captured Potsdam on April 30, 1945, did not deliberately destroy the locks out of a thirst for revenge.

Lieutenant Colonel Ludschuweit became the authorized representative of the Red Army to control Sanssouci Park and its castles, which was no longer open to the public until June 4, 1946, and authorized representative of the SMAD .

swell

• Hans-Joachim Giersberg , Jutta Not, Marion Dreger: The Chinese House in Sanssouci Park . Verlag Nishen Kommunikation, 1993, ISBN 3-88940-116-3 .
• Christiane Petri: Potsdam and the surrounding area: symbol of Prussia's splendor and glory: symbol of Prussia's splendor and glory . DUMONT Reiseverlag Ostfildern, 3rd edition 2009, ISBN 978-3-7701-6610-7 .
• Christiane Petri: Potsdam and the surrounding area . Artaus publishing house, 2000, ISBN 3-7701-6610-8 .

Web links

• The legend of Ludschuweit, Soviet first lieutenant, as a member of the trophy commission, secured art treasures as spoils of war Potsdam's latest news of April 28, 2005
• The myth of the Soviet rescue, who saved Sanssouci from annihilation? Welt Online from March 16, 2000

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Prussian Green . Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation , Henschel Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-89487-489-9 , p. 118
2. ↑ Jutta Held and Martin Papenbrock , Art and Politics, Vol. 8/2006: Focus: Art history at universities in the post-war period , p. 16