Moltkedenkmal (Parchim)
The Moltke memorial in Parchim is the oldest Moltke memorial in Germany and was inaugurated in 1876 while the sitter was still alive. It has remained unchanged to this day.
description
The monument shows the approximately 2.70 m high bronze statue of Moltke . The Field Marshal General stands in a calm pose, his left leg slightly forward. The arms are crossed in front of the body and hold the open coat worn over the uniform together, while the right hand holds a scroll. The head of the “Great Silence”, as Moltke is often characterized, is modeled in great portrait resemblance. The high plinth made of red (Swedish) granite , resting on three steps, is divided into two steps . On the front is a bronze oak wreath, in which the following inscription can be read in gold letters : "Graf / HELMUTH / MOLTKE / General- / Feldmarschall", the reverse also shows the large family coat of arms in bronze with the motto “FIRST WEIGH, THEN WAGEN” .
prehistory
In a privately convened meeting of the Parchim Citizens' Committee on February 11, 1871, Attorney Sommer applied for a statue to be erected in honor of Helmuth von Moltke. The background to this unanimously decided motion is the victorious outcome of the Franco-Prussian War after the capture of Paris on January 28, 1871, with the proclamation of the (second) Empire on January 18, 1871 and the associated coronation of Wilhelm I in the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles . Moltke, who was celebrated as a “unifier” alongside Bismarck and Roon , was born on October 26, 1800 in Parchim. As early as February 14, 1871, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II received the Parchim deputies and pledged his support. A monument committee was then formed. In addition to 24 dignitaries from Parchim, people from Schwerin and Berlin were also members, including the art historian Friedrich Eggers , the director of the Berlin building academy Richard Lucae and the sculptor Ludwig Brunow . After the memorial project was announced, the collections to finance the planned costs of 60,000 Reichsmarks began. Appeals for donations were published in Mecklenburg and the rest of Germany also in London, Moscow and St. Petersburg and quickly showed the hoped-for success. Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II gave 2,000 thalers (6,000 marks) and made 33 quintals of bronze available for casting from French cannons captured during the war .
Further career
The sculptor Ludwig Brunow, who was born in Lutheran in 1843 just a few kilometers east of Parchim , wrote a diplomatically very clever application letter on February 24, 1871. He had only recently had to finish his studies at the Berlin Art Academy and, as an artist from Mecklenburg and still largely unknown, he hoped to get his first major commission.
“There can be no doubt that the local old and shrewd masters, such as Professors Friedrich Drake , Albert Wolff , Gustav Blaeser and others, would not reject such an assignment. But they no longer work for the sake of honor, as a young, forward-striving artist must do, but can probably assume that the cost would make a considerable difference here. For me, the young man, who can say without arrogance that he has advanced so far in his art that he can devote himself seriously and with some hope of success to such a task, the Moltke monument would be a question of life and Ew. Wellborn will believe me that I will certainly not put my honor on the scales so easily. "
Another not insignificant plus point for the young artist was that Friedrich Eggers and Richard Lucae, two of his (former) teachers and sponsors, were on the heritage committee. Mediated by Eggers, Brunow was given the opportunity in June 1871 to be allowed to portray Helmuth von Moltke in his Berlin apartment. The resulting bust can be seen as preliminary work for the memorial and made the artist known to the public, who was able to sell some copies of the bust in marble , bronze and plaster. In October Brunow worked intensively on various models. In June 1873 he finally received the longed-for contract. In the spring of 1874 the auxiliary models on a scale of 1: 3 were ready and could be examined and approved by the monument commission. The cast model of the statue was completed in February 1875 and remained in the studio for a few months before casting in the renowned art foundry Hermann Gladenbeck , where it was benevolently inspected by Kaiser Wilhelm I with his wife and crown prince. The well-known Berlin company Kessel & Röhl produced the red granite base .
inauguration
The ceremonial unveiling of the monument had been set for October 2, 1876 by a specially formed festival committee. The day began at 7:00 am with full bells ringing from the churches. A big pageant through the city ended at 12:00 p.m. at the monument square. Numerous guests attended the celebrations, including, of course, the leading members of the grand ducal family, first and foremost Friedrich Franz II, and members of the von Moltke family with Ludwig von Moltke at the helm as the honored's brother. Helmuth von Moltke could not take part, but sent his personal greetings and congratulations:
"It is a particular pleasure for me that your Royal Highness honored not only my brother, but also the young artist, whose talent is a credit to my Mecklenburg home."
However, he made a visit to Parchim and the monument on November 26, 1876. In addition to other guests of honor, including, of course, the sculptor Brunow, numerous military and troop units from Grand Ducal and Moltke regiments, the region's war clubs and several thousand spectators from the population were present. The high school director Meyer gave the speech. Thereupon, under the thunder of cannons, the monument was unveiled and handed over by the monument committee to the city "for the care and welfare of all times". Mayor Friedrich Stegemann replied with the words:
“With a heartfelt thank you to the honored members of the committee, who inspired the work with a patriotic spirit and promoted it to its completion, the city of Parchim takes this monument into its care through me; she will hold it like a jewel that has been entrusted to her by the great German fatherland. An ornament, an honor of our city will be an everlasting, living memory of the spirit, the virtues and the high merits of him whom Parchim is happy and proud to call his great son. "
The official celebrations for the guests of honor were followed by a gala dinner at the Wallhotel. Sculptor Ludwig Brunow received the Gold Cross of Merit of the House Order of the Wendish Crown for his first monument . A commemorative medal was also minted specifically for the unveiling of the monument. A plaster cast of the auxiliary model was set up in 1877 as part of a trophy group in the Hall of Fame of the Schwerin Arsenal . The whereabouts of the figure after the dissolution of the Hall of Fame in 1922 has not been clarified. Parts of the collection came to the military history exhibition in Schwerin Castle and were largely destroyed, looted or taken to an unknown location as looted art in 1945 .
History after 1945
The Moltkedenkmal survived the “ metal donation ” campaigns in World War II unscathed, but was threatened with demolition after the end of the war at the request of anti-fascist groups in the city. However, the Soviet city commander, General Gussow, had to give his consent, which he refused. “The artist did not portray the general in the hero pose of the victor. As he stands here and looks over the burial mounds of the Russian officers at his feet (note: the graves were later reburied) , it is the Great Silent, as he was called, who thinks about war and peace. ”Even after the renaming of the Moltkeplatzes in Platz der Arbeit, the monument remained there, but was covered with huge transparent walls during political demonstrations (especially on May 1st and October 7th).
Status
With his monument to the General Field Marshal, Brunow set essential accents for all subsequent Moltke monuments.
“The characteristic hand posture adopted by the majority of the following Moltke interpreters comes from Brunow, the overlapping of one (mostly left) hand on the wrist of the other. This creates the impression of full concentration, reinforces the tendency to understand the military as heroes of the spirit, and transforms the outward-looking pathos of Blücher, for example, into inner concentration. (...) Opposite the 'Iron Chancellor', the 'great silent', who was responsible for the military victories of 1866 and 1870/71 and forced the decisive turnaround in the war against Denmark, appears as an intellectual. "
The statue in Parchim is the first and only one that was erected during Moltke's lifetime and is now a listed building. In addition, a memorial was set up in Moltke's birthplace in Parchim in 1994, in which a Moltke bust modeled by Ludwig Brunow in marble (dated 1875) is exhibited.
Anecdotes
The following incident has come down to us from an obituary for the artist:
“For the production of the statue, Brunow asked for some clothing from Moltke and received a coat, a pair of boots and some accessories. The young artist would have liked to keep the things back as expensive relics, and for the time being he made no move to return them, since they were materially worthless and no longer usable. But he did the math without the landlord. After a long time the field marshal sent a servant and had the old coat brought back, which still served him well by using it as a blanket in cold weather. The old coat, which had been stripped of the lining to make it more beautifully wrinkled, now had to be repaired quickly. The boots were not asked for and so they could be saved. But, 'unjustly good does not flourish', the master used to say when he told the story in later years, 'they were stolen from me'. "
In the report from the unveiling ceremony, we also learn of a deeply human incident:
“In this tangle we observed a scene which gripped our hearts and which we cannot hide, even at the risk of appearing indiscreet. The artist Brunow went to his old mother, for whom a seat had been reserved by the committee in the first row of the women's gallery, the gleam of the greatest happiness in his eyes, reached out to her and stroked her cheeks, and bright tears flowed out of sight of the old woman. We can imagine the unspeakable happiness that moved her mother's breast when she saw her son reap the fruits of his faithful, honest work, and not many parents are destined to experience in their children what this mother does in her son today had experienced. "
swell
- ↑ Otto Weltzien: On the history of Parchims. Forays through seven centuries; Parchim 1903; P. 150
- ↑ a b c d e Ingeborg Richter, Wolfgang Kaelcke: The Moltke monument in Parchim. A documentation (series of publications by the Parchim City Museum - issue 3); Parchim 1995
- ↑ City Archives Parchim - letter Brunows from February 24, 1871
- ↑ Mecklenburg State Main Archive Schwerin - Grand Duke. Cab. III, No. 5119 - Letter from Brunow dated June 6, 1871
- ↑ Mecklenburg State Main Archive Schwerin - Grand Duke. Cab. III, No. 5119 - Letter from Brunow dated June 11, 1875
- ↑ Mecklenburg State Main Archive Schwerin - Grand Duke. Cab. III, No. 5303 - Moltke's letter to the Grand Duke
- ^ Klaus-Ulrich Keubke: The arsenal. A landmark in Schwerin, Schwerin 1998
- ↑ Trier / Weyres (ed.): The art of the 19th century in the Rhineland; Vol. 4; P. 263
- ↑ J. Jürß: Ludwig Brunow †. In: Meckl. Newspaper. Sunday supplement No. 4 v. January 27, 1913
- ↑ Wolfgang Kaelcke: Parchimer personalities, Part I, Parchim 1996, p 17
literature
- Otto Weltzien: On the history of Parchims. Forays through seven centuries; Parchim 1903
- Ingeborg Richter, Wolfgang Kaelcke: The Moltke monument in Parchim. A documentation (series of publications by the Parchim City Museum - issue 3); Parchim 1995
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 25 ′ 29.6 " N , 11 ° 50 ′ 50.4" E