War memorial (Haldenwang)
The war memorial of the municipality of Haldenwang (Allgäu) was inaugurated on September 1, 1912 and was later even considered the "most beautiful memorial in the district".
Emergence
The war memorial in the municipality of Haldenwang in the Oberallgäu district was erected in the summer of 1912 and "welcomed" with a big celebration in the village. It stands in a place of honor dedicated to him below the parish church of St. Theodor on a parish property. The monument was built “in consideration of the honor duty of the [local soldiers] who lost their lives in the fight for the fatherland”. In the future, the sufferings of the war should also be remembered so that peace is preserved.
layout
The 13 individual parts of the statue are made of 2.5 mm thick Grüntaler copper sheet and stand on a concrete base. It depicts a foot gunner who is standing at attention and looks into the distance. He wears a “classic” Bavarian uniform with a coat. A field cannon stands next to him. The bayonet in his right hand is said to represent the cruelty of war. In contrast, the laurel wreath on his left symbolizes the hope of victory and peace. And thus supports the general idea that a war memorial should be "honor to the dead and a reminder to the living". Memorial sites often consist of abstract objects such as obelisks. Monuments depicting a fighting soldier are rarely found. The same applies to the mentioning of the year 1866 ( Austro-Prussian War ), which also makes the Haldenwang war memorial very unique. On the side facing the main street, the following lettering is written with individual copper letters:
In memory of the participants in the
campaign from
1866 to 1870 to 1871
and of the World War
1914 to 1918
and
1939 to 1945
On the left side there is a cast plaque with the following inscription:
Honorary memory of
the home community
1939 - 1945
our dead
(names)
our missing persons
(names)
Change and building history
The initiative for the construction came from the community itself under Mayor Johann Blenk. The production of the statue required great financial sacrifices from the population. The monument was fully paid for by the citizens out of their own pocket. A first small model could be made by the sculptor Xaver Abt from Mindelheim. A now unknown sculptor from Munich later made a plaster model of the final design that was true to the original. There was very little time available to make the statue. Therefore, from early in the morning until late at night, and two full nights had to be worked through so that it was finished on time.
Three decades later, during World War II , many objects made of metals that were of interest to the armaments industry, such as church bells, were to be melted down for the manufacture of weapons. So also the war memorial donated by the Haldenwang citizens themselves. With the voluntary "purchase" of the property on which it stands, as well as the entire statue, they managed to save their memorial. Because now the community was able to provide evidence that the monument was privately owned, and so it had to stay where it was.
The “copper gunner”, as he is called in the village chronicle, has stood unchanged in place for over 100 years. However, after the world wars, the respective years and the cast plate were added. In 2010 the municipality intended to beautify the Haldenwanger through-town. The war memorial should also play a decisive role in this. However, it has not yet been decided whether it will even come to this and what the “cosmetic surgery for passing through town” will look like.
Today's activities
Today the monument is a well-known "landmark" Haldenwang. Relatives of the fallen visit the memorial, probably due to the fact that the wars were decades and even more than a century ago. However, to this day, wreaths are laid every year on the day of national mourning and the respective mayor and other important people give short speeches. The main aim is to bring back memories of the wars and their brutality among the population, but above all the peace that has prevailed in Europe for almost 70 years should be valued and celebrated. The war memorial seems to inspire the citizens to this day, because there has never been any damage. A restoration was not necessary either. The monument is in the care of the warrior and soldier comradeship Haldenwang-Börwang, who would take care of all necessary steps in the event of repairs or restorations. But even there there are hardly any contemporary witnesses or campaign participants from the Second World War, let alone from the erection of the monument.
Public reaction
The Haldenwang war memorial is of great importance to the population. The citizens themselves decided to build it and paid for the costs, fought for “their” monument and visit it once a year. At the inauguration on September 1, 1912, the euphoria was of course even greater. On the way, special care had to be taken that no branches protruding into the street would damage the statue. Since the Haldenwangers could hardly wait for the monument to arrive, they even sent a messenger who quickly reported the transport difficulties. When the statue was brought up, maid of honor came to meet her, who later also laid numerous wreaths. At the same time, the church bells were rung for many minutes and the entire community cheered at the subsequent blessing by Pastor Witzigmann. The celebrations were concluded with a large village festival. Many foreigners visited the festival and admired the monument, of which the Haldenwangers are very proud to this day. The village community was also pleased that the brave soldier in the center of the village was called the “most beautiful memorial in the district”.
Nevertheless, this pride seems to have faded a bit, because on the occasion of the centenary on September 1, 2012 there was nothing more than a short article in the Allgäuer Zeitung and in the municipality's official gazette.
The monument is listed under the number D-7-80-122-5 on the Bavarian list of monuments .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Allgäuer Zeitung: Copper gunner has stood at attention for 100 years. Local history of the war memorial in Haldenwang erected on September 1, 1912 (cis), September 1, 2012
- ↑ a b c Copper gunner has stood at attention for 100 years. Local history of the war memorial in Haldenwang erected on September 1, 1912 (cis) In: Allgäuer Zeitung. September 1, 2012.
- ↑ Haldenwanger village chronicle
- ↑ a b c A copper gunner commemorates the dead of the wars. Haldenwanger war memorial erected almost 70 years ago (klz) In: Allgäuer Zeitung. June 25, 1981.
- ↑ napoleon-online.de
- ↑ napoleon-online.de
- ^ Conversation with the chairman of the soldiers' comradeship Haldenwang-Börwang
- ↑ denkmalprojekt.org
- ↑ November 15, 2010, Allgäuer Zeitung: Cosmetic surgery for driving through town. Haldenwang planning aims to upgrade (cis)
- ^ Conversation with the chairman of the soldiers' comradeship Haldenwang-Börwang
Coordinates: 47 ° 48 ′ 4.8 ″ N , 10 ° 20 ′ 47.4 ″ E