Moltkedenkmal (Düren)
The Moltkedenkmal was a statue in Düren .
On March 22, 1902, the statue of Field Marshal Count Helmut von Moltke was unveiled at the corner of Weierstrasse and Philippstrasse (today the corner of Weierstrasse and Victor-Gollancz-Strasse) in Düren. As early as 1891, lively arguments broke out in the city parliament and among the citizens about the place where the monument was to be erected. Soon after Moltke's death on April 24, 1891, Eberhard Hoesch , who knew the Generalfeldmarschall personally, in agreement with the mayor, wrote to the city to propose the erection of a Moltke memorial. Hoesch also agreed to donate a further 42,000 marks if the Anna column were moved from the Altenteich to Annaplatz after the Anna Church had been uncovered. A part of the stated sum was to be used to buy the houses (Gedeme) next to the church. On the Altenteich, space would then have become free for the Moltke monument.
A large part of the population welcomed the construction of the monument at this point; the plan was not approved by the city council. Hoesch did not let himself be discouraged and commissioned the Berlin sculptor Joseph Uphues , the creator of the Bismarck monument in Bismarckstrasse , to design a Moltked monument. In 1899 he donated 60,000 marks to the city on the grounds that he should acquire the Degenische Haus on Weierstrasse and the Philippstrasse entrance and erect the memorial in its place. 20,000 marks remained for the construction costs of the monument. Finally, an agreement was reached on the Weierstrasse / Philippstrasse square, where the old Degensche house stood at that time, which was then actually acquired and demolished.
The date of the unveiling was originally planned for October 18, 1901 and an imperial visit was in prospect. Finally, at the beginning of March 1902, the building contractor Linde completed the 440-pound base and on March 4, the 15-pound heavy and 3.30-meter-high bronze statue was erected. The total height of the monument was 7 meters. At the suggestion of Kommerzienrat Philipp Schoeller, the statue was covered with a green mass to prevent the bronze from turning black. On the Emperor's birthday , Saturday, March 22, 1902 at noon, the monument was unveiled. District President Julian von Hartmann and Professor Uphues were present as guests of honor .
Until Düren was destroyed on November 16, 1944 , a plaque with the inscription “Field Marshal Helmut von Moltke lived here for 10 days at the time hung on the house of Eberhard Hoesch at Wirtelstrasse 20 (later Germania Kino, now DM-Markt) the autumn maneuver in 1859 ”. Another stay was on September 23, 1861, when he came to the quarter from Deutz to Düren, stopped here on the 24th day and continued his journey to Eschweiler on the 25th .
The Moltkedenkmal fell from its base during the air raid on Düren on November 16, 1944 and later fell victim to the metal donation .
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- Timeline of the history of Düren 747–1997 , Domsta-Krebs - Krobb, Düren 1998, p. 158 ff.
- West German observer March 24, 1902
- Dürener Zeitung March 24, 1902