War memorial (Eilendorf)
The Eilendorf war memorial on Marienstraße in the Eilendorf district of Aachen was built in 1927 according to plans by the sculptor Fritz Neumann for the townspeople who died in the First World War .
history
At least 377 people from Eilendorf died in the First World War. For this reason, plans for a war memorial were drawn up for the first time in 1921. Three years later, Professor Bernhard Halbreiter was entrusted with the planning by RWTH Aachen University , but the design could not be carried out due to the poor financial situation. Then a committee was set up under the direction of the teacher Adam Geulen, which took over the preparatory work. On April 25, 1927, he approached the Aachen cathedral master builder and architect Joseph Buchkremer with the request to work out the proposals submitted.
Fritz Neumann provided the draft for the design of the monument and the location initially planned was a place at the St. Apollonia Chapel. However, the decision was made for the end wall at the old cemetery at the parish church of St. Severin , as this would result in an imposing final picture with the church located slightly higher. The permit for the construction, the cost of which amounted to around 12,500 marks, was then granted on August 26, 1927 and the master mason Nikolaus Dedisch, whose four brothers are to be found among the fallen, received the order to carry out the masonry work. Finally, the memorial was inaugurated on the Sunday of the Dead, November 20, 1927.
On the night of April 10th to 11th, 1934, the head of the statue was knocked loose with a heavy stone that could not fall down thanks to a special device. Six perpetrators could be identified, one of whom was sentenced on June 2, 1934 by the Aachen jury to a month's imprisonment. The other five got away with impunity because they were members of a Nazi party formation. The idea of the stab in the back was reason enough for the rulers of the Third Reich not to object to the shape of the monument. However, the Catholic implementation in the form of a Roman - and not German - soldier gave cause to take offense.
Only a few days later, on the night of April 17-18, 1934, the memorial was damaged again and tar mass was poured over it, but the perpetrators could never be identified. It was not until 1938 that the then incumbent mayor announced the decision to have a new memorial erected the following year, which never happened. Thus, the memorial, which has been restored in the meantime, has been preserved in its original form and every year the Eilendorfer local associations can honor the dead with a wreath-laying ceremony.
A chimney shaft was discovered during renovation work in 2015. This is 30 × 30 cm and is located next to the cross on the top of the monument. The chimney shaft is pivoted towards the center of the monument in the lower area. According to assumptions, this fireplace should evacuate the smoke of an open one. However, the plan was discarded and it was left that way.
Structure of the monument
On a rectangular base made of local bluestone , the main figure was erected from the same material, representing St. Sebastian , who, hit by the arrow, leans on his shield and sinks to death. The base and figure are placed on a consecration stone on which the inscription Den in World War 1914–1918 is engraved in honor of memory . This whole complex is placed in front of the church wall , which was raised for this purpose and made of hard-burned clinker masonry , which with its five bricked-up Gothic window niches is reminiscent of a church wall. In four of these niches there are slabs of shell limestone with the names of the fallen. The entire monument complex is located on a small hill that can be reached with a geometrically arranged staircase.
literature
- Hubert Beckers: Eilendorfer Flurdenkmäler - Contributions to the history of Eilendorf ; Vol. 2, Hanengress (Ed.), Eilendorf 1981.
- Eilendorf News - October 2015 edition
See also
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 44.3 " N , 6 ° 9 ′ 13.3" E