War memorial 1809

The 1809 war memorial in Retz

The nearby French Cross

The 1809 war memorial goes back to an initiative of the veterans' association in Retz , Lower Austria . In 1906 the idea arose to erect a new monument in place of the so-called French cross from 1809.

history

After the lost battle at Wagram , the Austrian army withdrew to the north. Battles at Hollabrunn, Schöngrabern , Grund, Guntersdorf and Jetzelsdorf as well as the Battle of Znaim claimed a large number of wounded on both sides.

On June 14, 1809, the Austrian military authorities ordered the establishment of field hospital number 31 in Retz to care for these wounded. Emergency hospitals were set up in the Dominican monastery, the Turmhof, the Gatterburg Palace and the Althof , among others .

According to the death registers of the Apostolic Field Vicariate , 1736 soldiers of the Austrian army died in Retz alone. There is just as little information about the number of French soldiers who died here as about the number of those who died, who were brought from abroad and buried here in a mass grave with around 2,300 dead on the site of today's Badhauspark.

In 1811 a red painted wooden cross was erected to commemorate these dead. This was renovated in 1819 and replaced in 1870 by a stone cross, which had to give way to the construction of the Northwest Railway and belonged to Vinzenz Liebl. Both the wooden and the stone cross were or are called the French cross.

The monument committee, founded in 1907, was initially concerned with collecting donations from the population and the authorities. The home collections from private individuals were satisfactory, but the authorities paid little heed to the appeal for donations. They mainly focused on a monument project at Schöngrabern . One of the memorial committee members finally advanced the outstanding amount of around 3000 crowns in order to be able to start work on schedule. Donations received later, including from some archdukes and heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este, made it possible to repay this loan just four weeks after the monument was inaugurated.

The consecration of the monument could have taken place in July 1909, but was delayed due to a location discussion. A place near the previous French cross was finally determined as the location.

The ceremonial unveiling of the war memorial took place on September 26, 1909, and the consecration was carried out by Dechant Rößler.

description

The total height of the monument is 4.8 meters, the figure including the flag is 3.48 meters high.

A cast figure represents a grieving, standing soldier in the customary adjustment of 1809, who stands with his head bowed and a flag in his hand on a plinth made from Salzburg Nummulite lime blocks. In the right foot of the figure there is a memorandum and the fixed order.

The monument bears two inscriptions:

“In memory of the 2,300 war victims resting here in 1809 ” and
“ 1909 fecit Hans Knespel, Guss von Selzer, Vienna. X. "

The design comes from Johann Knespel, a native of Retz. The casting was carried out near Selzer in the 10th district of Vienna, Favoriten . The model for the design of the figure was Corporal Franz Pohl of the Infantry Regiment number 99 stationed in Znojmo. The Austro-Hungarian Army Museum provided an original uniform and an original regimental flag.