Radeberg War Memorial (1927)
The war memorial in memory of the victims of the First World War in the Saxon town of Radeberg was officially unveiled in 1927 and is a listed building. The memorial near the Protestant church is viewed as a coherent memorial complex together with a memorial for the victims of the Second World War on Pulsnitzer Strasse.
cenotaph
construction
The memorial was designed by the Dresden sculptor Paul Berger (1889–1949), who was professor at the art academy from 1922 to 1945 . The larger-than-life sculpture shows a Valkyrie who wants to lead a fallen soldier to Valhalla , according to Nordic mythology . The monument stands on a rectangular base, behind which an arched wall extends. Eight copper plates were originally attached to this wall as well as to the sides of the base, on which the names of almost 500 Radeberger fallen were listed. The base inscription reads:
THE SACRIFICE WE
THE HOPE YOU
The monument, base and wall were built from rammed concrete . A small rectangular square was created in front of the memorial. The natural slope of the site was leveled out with stairs.
history
In 1927, parts of the Radeberg city center were restructured, for example the old cemetery of the Protestant church was abandoned and a new parish hall was built. Following the popular request for a memorial to the victims of the First World War, the church donated the land next to the new parish hall. Various collections were organized to finance the monument, the space for the memorial was prepared for development by several Radeberg associations.
The motif of the memorial was a much discussed topic between the sculptor Berger, the town's memorial committee and the citizens of Radeberg before it was erected. The first draft featured a soldier bending over a fallen comrade, another draft showed a soldier returning to his family from the war. Both ideas were rejected by at least one discussion party, and finally they agreed on the subject of the Valkyrie.
On November 20, 1927, the memorial was inaugurated with an official ceremony. On October 16, 1932, at another ceremony, the copper plates with the names of the Radeberg war victims were attached to the wall and the base of the monument.
After the Second World War at the latest, interest in the memorial waned. The area was replanted with conifers and no longer maintained. In the course of the following decades, the growing trees obscured the unobstructed view of the monument, the area neglected.
In 2011 the memorial was the target of a vandalism attack. The eight copper plates with the names of the victims were probably stolen by metal thieves ; they have since disappeared. The theft was discovered in November 2011, but the exact time of the crime could not be determined.
At the beginning of 2014, rumors began to circulate about the possible demolition of the memorial in Radeberg. The Protestant church, the owner of the property, had the monument checked and announced that the complex was in poor condition, but still safe. The speculations about a demolition were officially rejected and talks with the city about possibilities of restoring the war memorial were announced. At the suggestion of the urban history working group of the large district town of Radeberg, the city of Radeberg has planned a comprehensive renovation of the war memorial by the 90th anniversary of its unveiling in November 2017. This project was completed with the ceremonial unveiling of the restored monument including the restoration of all surrounding facilities and the installation of the 8 newly made metal plates with the names of the victims by November 2017. The entire facility was opened to the public with a ceremony on November 19, 2017 , on the day of national mourning.
OdF memorial
After the end of the Second World War, an honorary grove and a “Fascism” memorial were built in 1945 for the victims of the Radeberg labor education camp on Pulsnitzer Strasse, directly opposite the war memorial . The memorial stone bears the inscription:
Resistance fighters rest here
from 12 nations.
They died for our freedom.
In addition to the memorial stone, there are three smaller tombstones in the complex.
Web links
- Copy of the nameplates of the memorial in the online project Fallen Memorials from 2007
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of cultural monuments of the city of Radeberg, section Radeberg - entered under Pulsnitzer Straße. (PDF; 113 kB) Accessed November 12, 2014 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Bertram Greve: 100 years of the First World War - Radeberg has not forgotten his monument. In: Large district town of Radeberg in cooperation with the urban history working group (ed.): Radeberger Blätter zur Stadtgeschichte. Volume 12, Radeberg 2014.
- ↑ Radeberg - Monument Pulsnitzer Str. Photos of the war memorial with the still existing copper plates. DenkFried, accessed on September 12, 2019 .
- ↑ Name plaques made of copper stolen from a memorial. In: Sächsische Zeitung , 11 November 2011 edition.
- ↑ Jens Fritzsche: Rumors of demolition about war memorial. In: Sächsische Zeitung , edition of February 8, 2014.
- ↑ Jens Fritzsche: How much past can the present take? In: Sächsische Zeitung , issue of November 20, 2017.
- ^ Radeberg, Ehrenhain Pulsnitzer Strasse. Saxon Memorials Foundation, accessed on September 12, 2019 .
- ^ Radeberg - Ehrenhain Pulsnitzer Str. Photos of the memorial. DenkFried, accessed on September 12, 2019 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 7 ′ 6.1 ″ N , 13 ° 55 ′ 9.9 ″ E