War memorial (Neckargartach)
The war memorial in front of St. Peter's Church in Heilbronn district Neckargartach is a 1937 inaugurated the memorial to the fallen of World War I, which was slightly changed after the Second World War and supplemented by the names of the fallen 1939/45.
history
In the 1930s, the north and west side of the Neckargartacher Peterskirche, an old castle church, was chosen as a place for the war memorial . The old castle church used to be surrounded by a thick wall, part of which was still preserved on the south side of the former castle church. However, the site was heavily excavated with the start of construction of the middle school . The consequence of this was that the pillar of the church was lost and the masonry of the sacred building showed severe damage. New walls had therefore become necessary as a security measure for the church. Following the existing part of the old defensive wall in the south, a new wall was built, which forms a tower-like pillar on the street corner to support the church at this particularly dangerous place. The wall is then continued with the name wall , which is 23 meters long and ends in the saying wall on the north-east side.
The work was carried out according to designs by senior building officer Kiesner, building officer Mauer and the sculptor Neumeister from Stuttgart. The building advisory board had voted for this design at the time, which at the time consisted of the local group leaders Leiensetter and Harder, the councilors Hofmeister and Hornung, the local councilors Dr. Zehme, Rothenburger and Uhlman, the building councilor Mauer, the mayor and the local architect Hesser. The construction project was financed by various donations, such as those of the general director Dr. Feise, the local industry, the Heilbronn salt works, the Altwürttemberg power plant in Ludwigsburg and the farmers, craftsmen and citizens of Neckargartach. The donation volume at that time was 21,000 Reichsmarks, which meant that Neckargartach only had to bear a third of the costs.
Construction work began on January 7, 1937, with the site master builder Hesser being responsible for the local construction supervision until his illness on May 8, 1937. Architect Semmler then took over this task, with contractor and councilor Paul Rothenburger taking care of the construction work. The stones in which the names of the fallen and missing were carved by the master stone masons Wilhelm Weller and Ernst Rothenburger came from the quarry of master stone mason Reimold in Mühlbach . In the so-called wall of names, each of the fallen is dedicated to a separate stone with name, date of birth and death and place of death.
The sculpture on the tower-like pillar is a high three-quarter relief created by the sculptor Neumeister. It shows two field grays in coats and steel helmets who "keep watch on the fallen mark with rifles at foot". One of the two figures is in the "prime of manhood" and is characterized by "bitter warfare" on the face, while the other figure is supposed to represent a "young fighter". The group of warriors should radiate a "sublime impression" and a "restrained force" should be felt that "animates" the two men.
The Heimatverein Neckargartach organized a competition to get a text for the banner, with the building advisory board acting as a judge. From 29 applicants, it was decided that the local poet Frida Schuhmacher born. Spachmann (1892–1964) to be awarded first prize, while Lina Engelhardt and Hans Fröhner received second and third prizes, respectively. The motto read: From your inheritance, you heroes, from the spirit of eternal sacrifice and devotion, the people are built. This was to commemorate the 138 Neckargartachers who died at the front in the First World War. The monument was inaugurated on July 18, 1937.
When 309 people from Neckargartach were lost after the Second World War, 219 of whom were killed, 63 missing, 25 perished in an air raid and 2 in combat operations, the old slogan was removed and replaced by the current one: Admonish the dead . In addition, another name plaque was attached with the names of those who died in World War II.
List of names of the fallen in 1939/45
Name wall 1914/18
Detail of the name wall
literature
- Peter Hahn, Heinz Kurz: Neckargartach in old postcards 1897–1945 . Home and Culture Working Group Neckargartach e. V., Heilbronn 2006, ISBN 978-3-939765-00-4 ( publication of the working group Heimat und Kultur Neckargartach eV , 4), p. 22.
- Heimatverein Neckargartach (ed.): Neckargartach - On the occasion of the inauguration of the Fallen Memorial and in memory of the 1st Heimattag , Neckargartach 1937, p. 11-14 with description of the war memorial in Neckargartach by Baurat Mauer, Stuttgart.
- Helmut Schmolz , Hubert Weckbach : Neckargartach - as it used to be. The old townscape in photographs 1880–1945. For the 50th anniversary of the incorporation to Heilbronn in 1938 . Jahrbuch-Verlag, Weinsberg 1988 ( small series of publications from the archive of the city of Heilbronn , volume 22).
Sources and Notes
- ↑ Schmolz / Weckbach, page 173, note on Fig. 294
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 10 ′ 6.9 ″ N , 9 ° 11 ′ 55.3 ″ E