Metternich owl

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The Metternicher Eul (e) on the Kimmelberg in Koblenz-Metternich

The Metternicher Eul (e) is a Prussian war memorial in Koblenz , which is located on the Kimmelberg in the Metternich district. The monument , now known as the Owl ' , is actually an obelisk with an eagle . It was built in honor of fallen soldiers of the Prussian army from the Metternich community and is today the symbol of Metternich.

history

The foundation stone for the war memorial was laid on June 15, 1913 on the initiative of the Metternich Warrior and Landwehr Association. It was built by the Frankfurt architect Wilhelm Müller , the design comes from Otto Bäppler . The eagle was made by the Metternich master stonemason Wilhelm Geisen according to plans by the Frankfurt sculptor Carl Stock . The monument building, which cost 7,500 marks (40,710 euros) , was financially supported by the Metternich benefactor Max Weidtman (1858–1921). The inauguration celebrations took place on October 18 and 19, 1913, the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig . The inscriptions were meant to commemorate the dead of the Battle of Nations and the wars of 1864 , 1866 and 1870/71 . They were added after the First and Second World Wars . The memorial plaque on the front bore the following text in 1913: Your sons who died in the war, the Metternich community.

The monument was restored in November 1964 and May 1993. In 1993 it was rededicated as a "Memorial of Peace" and the inscriptions were changed in their current form.

Today, the name "owl" is mostly explained as a joke designation for the eagle crowning the monument, which looks like a sitting owl. Eul or Uhl can, however, be found several times in the area around Koblenz as an old field name that reminds of potters working there ( Eulner : from Latin Olla = pot) or their clay pits.

construction

The 9 m high war memorial made of trachyte stands on a square floor plan with a side length of 5.5 m. A 16 m wide flight of stairs leads up to the monument . The conically tapering base consists of hunched cuboids with pillar-like reinforced edges. The eagle, shown in an atypical sitting posture with wings attached, stands on a beam . The iron cross with the letter W (for Wilhelm I ) and the year 1870 are attached to the front of the obelisk . In the middle of the front are the words:

In honor of the dead, as a warning to the living .

On the back it reads:

In memory of the dead in the 4 wars over the past two centuries .

On the sides are the dates for the construction and restoration.

Monument protection

The Metternicher Eul (e) is a protected cultural monument according to the Monument Protection Act (DSchG) and entered in the list of monuments of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . It is in Koblenz-Metternich on the Kimmelberg .

See also

literature

  • Energieversorgung Mittelrhein GmbH (ed.): History of the city of Koblenz . Overall editing: Ingrid Bátori in conjunction with Dieter Kerber and Hans Josef Schmidt
    • Vol. 1: From the beginning to the end of the electoral era . Theiss, Stuttgart 1992. ISBN 3-8062-0876-X
    • Vol. 2: From the French city to the present . Theiss, Stuttgart 1993. ISBN 3-8062-1036-5
  • Helmut Kampmann: When stones speak. Memorial plaques and memorial plaques in Koblenz. Fuck-Verlag, Koblenz 1992, pp. 253f. ISBN 3-9803142-0-0 .
  • Wolfgang Schütz: Koblenz heads. People of the city's history. Namesake for streets and squares. Edited by Bernd Weber. 2nd revised and expanded edition. Publishing house for advertising papers, Mülheim-Kärlich 2005.
  • Ulrike Weber (edit.): Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany. Volume 3.3: City of Koblenz. Districts. Werner, Worms 2013, ISBN 978-3-88462-345-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Koblenz-Metternich: The "Eul" has been looking down at the valley for 100 years in: Rhein-Zeitung , September 16, 2013
  2. ↑ See the compilation of the Koblenz city archive: http://www.koblenz.de/bilder/stadtarchiv_koblenzer_strassennamen.pdf
  3. ↑ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - district-free city of Koblenz (PDF; 1.5 MB), Koblenz 2013

Coordinates: 50 ° 21 '35.8 "  N , 7 ° 32' 59.2"  E