Memorial for the dead of both world wars and for the victims of National Socialism
The memorial to the dead of both world wars and to the victims of Nazism in Bergheim is a combination of a 1.35 meter high bronze sculpture , which the Saint Sebastian represents and a basalt -Bauwerk that rises like a temple on the bronze sculpture. Gerhard Marcks created the memorial in 1956 on behalf of the city. It was inaugurated the following year.
The figure shows a young man in a slightly hunched posture. Originally, two arrows pierced him, but they were forcibly removed. The memorial stands next to the choir of the Church of St. Remigius in Bergheim. For a long time it was covered by hedges and barely visible. Roots have damaged the steps of the substructure of the surrounding building. The memorial was uncovered in summer 2014.
A copy of the sculpture with arrows is in the Vatican Museum in Rome .
Trivia
The first draft, which depicted the saint naked, sparked controversy. The city fathers insisted on at least a loincloth and prevailed with it.
literature
- Robert Boecker: The forgotten memorial . In: Kirchenzeitung Köln, issue 3/15, p. 56
- Sabine Gertrud Cremer: St. Sebastian by Gerhard Marcks. A memorial from the city of Bergheim. In: Yearbook of the Bergheim History Association , Vol. 5, 1996, pp. 204–225.
- Corinna Tomberger: The counter monument . Avant-garde art, history politics and gender in the West German culture of remembrance. Bielefeld 2007, p. 150
- Sabine Gertrud Cremer: warning signs versus cult of the dead. A contribution to the history of the German war memorial and memorial to the fallen . 2016 ( internet publication ).
- Sabine Gertrud Cremer: The memorial of the city of Bergheim by Gerhard Marcks from 1957. 2017 ( Internet publication ).
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 50 ° 57 ′ 33.8 " N , 6 ° 38 ′ 9.1" E