War memorial (Ostbevern)
The war memorial for the fallen of the First World War in Ostbevern has the shape of a statue of George. By listing the dead by name, the war memorial has the character of a cenotaph .
| George statue | |
|---|---|
 St. Georg in Ostbevern |
|
| Data | |
| place |
Ostbevern , North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Construction year | 1923 |
| height | approx. 3.5 m |
| Floor space | 1 m² |
| Coordinates | 52 ° 2 '25.3 " N , 7 ° 50' 11.3" E |
| particularities | |
| built in the old form at a new location | |
description
The sculpture has a total height of approx. 3.5 meters. A statue of St. George in the shape of a knight with armor and cloak stands on a concentric base about 1.5 meters high . His bare head looks straight ahead. In front of his chest he thrusts a double-edged sword into the throat of a dragon with both hands , which is curled up at his feet.
Four allegorical heads are depicted on the edge of the base . The base front is adorned with an iron cross , underneath is the inscription : Ostbevern his brave sons . The names of the soldiers from Ostbevern who fell or were missing in World War I are carved around the base. A total of 78 war dead are listed; not all officially recorded dead are represented. Two are listed as missing in 1923, the death of which was confirmed retrospectively. A victim or veteran from the Franco-German War is also mentioned. The lists are not strictly alphabetical; the missing persons are listed separately. The list begins with “ Die fürs Vaterland:” and ends with the sentence “Rest safe. Peace " . With one exception, the list on the statue of St. George is congruent with the list of the fallen, as it can be seen on a wooden plaque at the entrance of the St. Ambrosius parish church , apart from two probable spelling errors in a surname on the board.
meaning
The statue depicts an allegorical patron saint of the soldier who takes up the sword to fight evil. But it is not clear which patron is meant. There are four candidates for this: St. George , Archangel Michael , St. Sergios and St. Mauritius . Consciously or unconsciously, the artist has dispensed with a clear attribute. Saint George is mostly depicted on a horse, for a clear figure of Michael the angel's wings would be missing, Saint Sergios is usually shown together with Saint Bakchos, and the mark of Saint Mauritius is the head of a Moor . In literature they have agreed on St. George; However, there are also voices in Ostbevern who believe they recognize the Archangel Michael in the statue.
The war victims
| Surname | First name | born | like | represented |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eighth taken | Wilhelm | 1890 | 10/15/1916 | |
| Althoff Schulze | Paul | 1880 | June 24, 1916 | |
| Aschoff | Franz | --- | October 8, 1914 | |
| Averbeck | George | 1897 | September 16, 1916 | |
| Bertels | Wilhelm | 1895 | July 24, 1916 | |
| Bessmann | August | 1890 | 11/18/1914 | |
| Beuse | Joseph | 1893 | March 12, 1915 | |
| Bittmann | Fritz | 1894 | 6.5.1917 | |
| Bockelmann | Gerhard | 1885 | September 14, 1914 | |
| Bollmann | Hubert | 1893 | missing | |
| Brinkmann | Hermann | 1894 | August 12, 1915 | |
| Brundieck | Hubert | 1886 | March 31, 1918 | |
| Bruske | Theodore | 1887 | 4.9.1918 | |
| Bucker | August | 1889 | May 16, 1915 | |
| Bucker | Heinrich | 1891 | 10/9/1918 | |
| Bucker | Karl | 1889 | May 31, 1915 | |
| Bussmann | Anton | 1899 | 12/29/1918 | |
| Cord | Heinrich | 1892 | 10/9/1914 | |
| Eschkotte | Wilhelm | 1889 | July 21, 1918 | |
| Frond | Bernard | 1884 | July 22, 1917 | |
| Greshake | Heinrich | 1871 | May 17, 1917 | |
| Grothues-Heitkamp | Heinrich | 1878 | April 1, 1915 | |
| Heemann | Bernard | 1892 | missing | |
| Herbermann | Heinrich | 1889 | September 7, 1918 | |
| Hollmann | Bernhard | 1880 | April 23, 1917 | |
| Helling | Hermann | 1890 | August 4th, 1915 | |
| Hovenkötter | John | --- | --- | 1870-71 |
| Hugenroth | John | 1880 | September 16, 1914 | |
| Hütteman-Hollmann | Bernhard | 1888 | November 4, 1918 | |
| Imholt | August | --- | 8.7.1917 | |
| Kock | August | 1896 | 7.3.1918 | |
| Kock | Joseph | 1894 | 1.1.1917 | |
| Köller | Joseph | 1885 | November 3, 1914 | |
| Kohues | Ferdinand | 1899 | October 2, 1918 | |
| king | Heinrich | 1891 | May 11, 1918 | |
| Kortmann | Franz | 1896 | 11/1/1916 | |
| Kövener | Anton | 1891 | October 1, 1914 | |
| Kövener | Heinrich | 1899 | August 26, 1918 | |
| Kuhlmann | Bernhard | 1895 | April 20, 1917 |
| Surname | First name | born | like | represented |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lauvers | Bernhard | 1894 | 4.5.1917 | |
| Lehmbrock | August | 1893 | June 18, 1916 | |
| Mersbäumer | Bernhard | 1893 | May 13, 1917 | |
| Merschkoetter | Johann | 1896 | missing | |
| Middrup | Hermann | 1895 | August 14, 1918 | |
| Möllers | Joseph | 1894 | February 23, 1916 | |
| Neiteler | August | 1890 | March 30, 1916 | |
| Neiteler-Juergens | Bernhard | 1882 | March 30, 1916 | |
| Niehoff | Anton | 1893 | 29.9.1918 | |
| Niehues | Joseph | 1891 | 5.8.1914 | |
| Peppenhorst | Wilhelm | 1892 | 8.4.1915 | |
| pill | Bernhard | 1893 | September 27, 1915 | |
| Reckermann | August | 1894 | July 12, 1918 | |
| Reckermann | Bernhard | 1898 | 1918 | missing |
| Redbrake | Bernhard | 1897 | June 25, 1917 | |
| Riesenbeck | Anton | 1894 | 29.3.1616 | |
| Rotthove | Bernhard | 1888 | November 7, 1915 | |
| Rotthove | Hubert | 1896 | April 13, 1917 | |
| Rotthove | Linus | 1893 | July 9, 1916 | |
| Rottwinkel | Heinrich | 1891 | September 17, 1914 | |
| Rottwinkel | Karl | 1891 | August 26, 1914 | |
| Scharsewinkel | Bernhard | 1892 | 1915 | missing |
| Schniederbernd | Joseph | 1891 | 10/20/1914 | |
| Schroer | Anton | 1899 | 10/21/1918 | |
| Schroer | Joseph | 1888 | January 20, 1915 | |
| Sendker | Heinrich | 1894 | 4.5.1915 | |
| Stratmann | Bernhard | 1895 | 29.4.1918 | |
| Stratmann | Karl | 1892 | 9.9.1914 | |
| knitter | Joseph | 1888 | 5.7.1918 | |
| Strotbaum | Anton | 1891 | 10/25/1914 | |
| Strotbaum | Joseph | 1895 | January 16, 1916 | |
| Vennekötter | Ferdinand | 1894 | June 15, 1918 | |
| Vennekötter | Heinrich | 1895 | 10/17/1917 | |
| Verenkotte | Heinrich | 1888 | 10/17/1917 | |
| Puppy | Heinrich | 1894 | April 19, 1915 | |
| Winterberg | Joseph | 1891 | December 18, 1917 | |
| Woermann | Franz | 1886 | April 17, 1916 | |
| Wortmann | August | 1898 | June 29, 1918 | |
| Wortmann | Bernhard | 1893 | 5.9.1914 |
- epitaph
Front
Beginning
center
The End
history
Shortly after the armistice , on November 28, 1918, Baron von Beverförde-Werries, as chairman of the warrior association , promised a donation of 2,000 marks for a war memorial, which resulted in a fundraising in the warrior association. Because of the post-war inflation even going over to donations of kind suppose to for the company to Stuchtey from Munster to pay. This family business was founded by Bernhard Stuchtey (born January 25, 1862 in Beckum; † December 1, 1918 in Münster) on Hammer Straße 86 in Münster. After his death, his widow continued the business. His two sons were artistically active: Heinrich Stuchtey (born November 13, 1891; † January 18, 1944) and Wilhelm Stuchtey (date of birth and death unknown but died in World War II ). Therefore, it is not clear who the artist was who created the monument. Finally, in June 1923, the 100 or so members of the warrior club were able to hand over the memorial to the public with great sympathy from the population.
“Of all the war memorials in the area, the one in Ostbevern was simply the most beautiful! It expressed neither martial pathos, nor sentimental sentimentalism, nor pompous patriotism, and certainly not glorified heroism. It was the simple allegorical depiction of Saint George in armor, with a cloak and a free head, slaying the lindworm, the symbol of evil and inferiority. The saint takes the posture of praying rather than fighting. The sword that he thrusts into the throat of the monster has more of the shape of a cross and is hardly reminiscent of a weapon. "
The statue as part of the war memorial
The war memorial is the property of the political community, but stood on the soil of the parish, which meant that a consensus between the parties always had to be established when making decisions. In 1976 the municipal council decided to comply with the repeated demands of the warrior association and to give the Ostbevern war cemetery a memorial.
The old cemetery had been used for burials from 1815 to around 1930 and was handed over to the municipal administration by a lease from the parish on October 21, 1975. After it was abandoned as a cemetery, the grave fields were leveled. During the discussions about the future design, the parish found that “the war memorial would no longer be in keeping with the times, since the statue of St. George with the sword and the killing of the dragon represented domination and slavery”. The representatives of the municipal council saw the location as unfavorable for traffic. The representatives of the warrior association pointed out the contradiction that on the one hand St. George could not be presented as a provocation and public nuisance and on the other hand he could be included in the planned memorial for the fallen of both world wars.
The art teacher at the local high school Schloss Loburg , Theo Schäfer, was commissioned with the design. The central design element was a wall that divided the square into two parts and was soon popularly known as the “ Wailing Wall ”. On the north side, next to figurative representations of Theo Schäfer (“Three Mourning Women”), a stone Stations of the Cross from 1873 was inserted, which had previously stood in the old cemetery. A restoration of these Nazarene- style sculptures was deliberately avoided. The figures damaged by human hands were intended to give a lasting indication of the destructive forces inherent in humans, which repeatedly conjured up the calamities of war. The statue of St. George was built into a concrete wall to the east.
Many of these jobs subsequently turned out to be technically unfavorable. The Stations of the Cross were given a protective coating that attacked the soft shell limestone . When conservationists of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association examined the complex in 1982 , they considered the “incomprehensible irreparable reuse” of the cemented reliefs and the statue of St. George to be “extremely regrettable, both from an art-historical and restorative point of view”. When the mayor was accused of cementing the statue of George in a committee meeting, he took the view that the statement made by the single figure no longer suited the time and should therefore be integrated into a memorial.
Recovery
In addition to the weathering as a result of the inexpedient conservation measures, vandalism in particular affected the reliefs and the statue . In April 2000, representatives of the parish council , the parish council and the diocese of Münster , including Domkustos Udo Grote, decided to remove and restore the reliefs from the wall. On the initiative of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge , a working group was formed in mid-2000 , consisting of representatives of the Volksbund, the parish council and the parish council.
That there was a will for restoration in Ostbevern is shown by the fact that the application to cancel the redesign of the old cemetery due to the tight budget was unanimously rejected. The "Wailing Wall" was torn down in January 2003. The working group with the participation of the Episcopal Vicariate General Münster and the reservist comradeship then provided the decisive impetus for the re-establishment.
Theo Schäfer had taken the statue into his care until the question of location was decided. The fragments of the base were found and the son Theo Schäfers was entrusted with the reconstruction at the new location. The old cemetery has been converted into a memorial park called the “Old Cemetery”. The war cemetery was also redesigned with bronze tombstones.
On the day of national mourning in 2003, District Administrator Wolfgang Kirsch was able to inaugurate the statue again. The annual Remembrance Day is still held there. The memorial park is still being ravaged by vandalism.
- photos
War memorial at the parish church in 1928
The statue of George at the original location in front of the church (approx. 1971)
The statue embedded in the concrete wall (approx. 1992)
Today's situation in the memorial complex
Condition after removal of the statue in 2003
The inauguration on Memorial Day 2003
literature
- Vicar Gr. Vorspohl in connection with the parish of St. Ambrosius Ostbevern (ed.): Wayside crosses and wayside shrines in the parish of St. Ambrosius Ostbevern. Krimphoff, Füchtorf 1978, ISBN 3-921787-03-9 (authors: Josef Gr. Vorspohl, Reinhard Drees, Norbert Reher), number 28.
- Werner Bernhard Sendke: Fallen in Flanders fields. Germans and their relationship to the First World War. Uelvesbüll 2006, ISBN 3-89959-366-9 .
Web links
- Volksbund on the memorial and the redesign
- Heimatverein Ostbevern on the old cemetery
- The story of the 1945 mass grave in Ostbevern
- Image of St. George at the Ostbevern shooting club
- Vandalism in the old cemetery
Single receipts
- ↑ dates of birth from the parish archives added.
- ↑ Last war dead, died after the armistice .
- ↑ NCO and owner of the Iron Cross “The dear deceased was born in Ostbevern on June 9, 1894. When drafted on December 14, 1914, he went into the field in March 1915, survived the heavy fighting off Ypres, Verdun and the Somme and came then back to Verdun. In January 1917, fate led him to Champagne. On May 4th, a grenade targeted his young life. It rests in the St. Clements soldier's cemetery . ” Quotation from Tottenicket in: Fallen in Flanders fields. P. 25.
- ↑ First war dead after the outbreak of war.
- ↑ "fell in the Second Battle of Flanders " in: Fallen in Flanders fields. Pp. 102-105.
- ↑ According to a letter from his rent master Röhrs, see parish archive Ostbevern.
- ↑ Fallen in Flanders fields. P. 135.
- ^ Crosses and wayside shrines in the parish of St. Ambrosius Ostbevern , No. 6.
- ↑ Fallen in Flanders fields. P. 137.
- ^ Crosses and wayside shrines in the parish of St. Ambrosius Ostbevern , p. 2.
- ^ Westfälische Nachrichten of October 29, 1982.
- ^ Westfälische Nachrichten of May 1, 2000.
- ↑ See the minutes of the 14th meeting of the Environment and Planning Committee on November 20, 2001.
- ^ Westfälische Nachrichten of January 11, 2003.
- ^ Westfälische Nachrichten of October 25, 2011.