Black Madonna Chapel

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The Black Madonna Chapel in Remagen

The Schwarze Madonna chapel is located in Remagen on the banks of the Rhine south of the city center. According to Hans Peter Kürten , it is the only chapel in Germany to date that is reminiscent of a prisoner of war camp . The anniversary of the inauguration of the chapel has been used annually by neo-Nazis for parades since 2009 .

history

In memory of the " Golden Mile " camp for German prisoners of war , which the Americans set up in Remagen after crossing the Rhine in April 1945, the mayor at the time , Hans Peter Kürten, founder of the Remagen Peace Museum, used donations (320,000 DM ) to build on the road between Remagen and the Kripp district , in the middle of the former warehouse area, the “ Black Madonna ” chapel . More than 1,200 former prisoners attended the laying of the foundation stone on June 22, 1985. The inauguration took place on October 9, 1987. In the chapel stands the “Black Madonna” on a stele, which the prisoner of war Professor Adolf Wamper (1901–1977) formed from the clay from the Golden Mile, as this area is called, during the camp.

The Americans held over 250,000 German prisoners in the camp. Historians estimate that between 1,000 and 1,200 of them died from illness in the camp. Many of them were buried in a military cemetery in the municipality of Bodendorf (now Bad Bodendorf ), which then belonged to Remagen . The chapel is supposed to remind of this with its introduced texts. The motif of the admonition for the future, placed as an inscription in the chapel reads:

"Previous mistakes must not be repeated. Retribution is not love and hate is not a soil on which peace can flourish. "

At the scene of the accident, a plaque commemorates the events of 1992

On April 11, 1992, a 22-year-old driver raced into a group of around 80 people who were praying at the chapel at the beginning of Holy Week after a procession. Four people were killed in the accident and another 13 people were seriously injured. The fugitive driver later turned himself in to the police and was sentenced to three years in prison - the alcohol level was determined to be 2.5 per mille.

Commemoration

The local action plan of the city of Remagen funded a project entitled “The Black Madonna of Remagen - a right relic?” With around 7,000 euros. This examines the question of the extent to which the sculptor of the “Black Madonna”, Adolf Wamper, was an active Nazi. This was preceded in 2011 by a motion in the city parliament, which demanded the removal of the Black Madonna from the chapel for the time of the right-wing extremist marches, but was rejected. The result of the project was presented on October 20, 2012 in Remagen. The historian Bettina Oesl had dealt with the question and came to the conclusion that Wamper was clearly a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) and had worked as an artist for the Nazis. In contrast, Oesl found no evidence that he was privileged by the Nazis or that he was guilty of crimes against humanity . In a denazification process after the war, he was classified in category V and was therefore considered "exonerated".

The inscription on the plaque in the floor of the chapel
The text panel attached to the cross

Neo-Nazis from the area around the Central Rhine Action Office use the chapel as a target for an annual parade and wreath-laying ceremony. In 2009 around 200 neo-Nazis arrived. This was the trigger for the founding of the Remagen Alliance for Peace and Democracy in 2010. This mobilizes counter-events every year. After the city's attempt to ban another neo-Nazi rally in 2010 was overturned by the court, the number of participants who attended the events of the counter-alliance fell short of the 270 neo-Nazis who had traveled in 2010.

In 2011 there was a massive police presence. This time around 200 neo-Nazis had traveled to the march announced by Christian Malcoci . The number of counter-demonstrators had increased significantly compared to the previous year.

After charges were brought against the people involved in the “Mittelrhein Action Office” in 2012 for founding a terrorist organization, in 2012 the participation on both sides was lower. Counter-demonstrators held a service in the chapel shortly before the right-wing march began. The artist Rosmarie Feuser realized the installation “99 posters on wooden slats” in front of the chapel, which used slogans against the march by the neo-Nazis. According to the police, around 150 right-wingers marched from Remagen train station in a demonstration to the chapel. The Feuser installation was later destroyed by strangers.

In 2013, the initiative was awarded a prize by the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance in Rhineland-Palatinate as part of the Active for Democracy and Tolerance competition for its “memorial wrapping” campaign, with which the Remagen Alliance had covered the chapel .

Web links

Coordinates: 50 ° 34 ′ 21 ″  N , 7 ° 15 ′ 19.8 ″  E

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Christoph Lüttgen: Memorial event for the erection of the "Black Madonna" in Remagen , on: general-anzeiger-bonn.de, from October 22, 2012, last accessed: October 28, 2012.
  2. ↑ Right-wing extremists march to the Friedenskapelle “Funeral March” in Remagen runs smoothly , by Christoph Lüttgen, Bonner General-Anzeiger November 19, 2017
  3. ↑ Kurt Kleemann: Planned death in the Golden Mile? The prisoner of war camp Remagen / Sinzig 1945 ( memento from June 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) , on: Homepage of the Ahrweiler district administration, undated, last accessed: October 28, 2012.
  4. ↑ http://www.remagen.de/images/Tourismus/Prospekte_Verkaufsartikel/Kapelle_Aussen.pdf
  5. ↑ Victor Francke: 20 years ago a driver raced into a group of pilgrims in Remagen , online in General-Anzeiger Bonn, last accessed: June 23, 2013.
  6. ↑ http://www.rhein-zeitung.de/region/bad-neuenahr_artikel,-Remagen-Schwarze-Madonna-wird-nicht-entfernt-_arid,336876.html
  7. ↑ Jan Lindner: Remagen: Was artist Wamper an active Nazi? , at: rhein-zeitung.de, last accessed: October 28, 2012.
  8. ↑ http://www.rhein-zeitung.de/regionales_artikel,-Remagen-vor-Neonazi-Aufmarsch-Ein-Friedensmahnmal-wird-umgedeutet-Rheinwiesenlager-Mittelrhein-_arid,336055_print,1_regid,1.html
  9. ↑ Alliance Remagen for Peace + Democracy founded ( Memento from January 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ http://www.rhein-zeitung.de/regionales_artikel,-Demo-in-Remagen-Die-Drahtzieher-_arid,338722_regid,1.html
  11. ↑ http://www.rhein-zeitung.de/regionales_artikel,-Live-Wie-Remagen-mit-Neonazi-Aufmarsch-umgangs-_arid,338668_arpage,3_regid,1.html#articletop
  12. ↑ Remagen demonstrates against the right
  13. ↑ Victor Francke: Unknown people saw off the Remagen poster forest , on: Generalanzeiger Bonn online, last accessed on June 23, 2013.
  14. ↑ http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/region/kreis-ahrweiler/remagen/Preis-fuer-Remagener-Buendnis-article1075755.html