VDI Memorial (Alexisbad)
The VDI memorial is a memorial in the Alexisbad district of Harzgerode in the Harz in Saxony-Anhalt . It commemorates the establishment of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) on May 12, 1856 in Alexisbad .
It is centrally located in the center of Alexisbad on the Kurplatz.
Design and history
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Reichstag in Berlin in 1906 , the idea of erecting a monument in Alexisbad, with an elevated location on a mountain being considered, was already being proposed. However, the idea was initially not implemented. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the association, however , a memorial created by the Düsseldorf architect and sculptor Eberhard Encke was unveiled on May 12, 1931 in front of the Kurhaus Alexisbad .
The monument consisted of a tall, slender column made of five blocks made of shell limestone . She carried a double T-beam on which there was a bronze figure. The figure represented a young engineer . On the column there was a dedication reminding of the founders. The names of the founders were noted on the back. At the feet of the column, slightly inclined metal plates were attached, on which the names of the district clubs were given.
The unveiling was preceded by a musical performance. This was followed by the right of way of a two-horse-drawn ladder cart on which members of the Academic Hut Association were. The guests were welcomed with a speech by a representative of the Anhalt state government . This was followed by a speech by the sculptor on the conception of the monument. Finally, the chairman of the association's monument committee took over the monument with the words: The fir tree is green, the stone never wavers! God protect our association forever
In 1972 the GDR dismantled and stored the memorial in the course of renovations to the area and the construction of an outbuilding for the Geschwister Scholl holiday home . The VDI, which still exists in the western part of Germany, was informed of this. The association demanded that the monument be re-erected at a different location in the area, but this did not take place. Local efforts by interested parties were also ignored by the GDR state authorities.
The VDI therefore turned to the Federal Minister for Internal German Relations at the end of the 1970s with a request for support for transferring the monument to West Germany. However, the GDR authorities initially did not approve such removal of the monument. After lengthy, unsuccessful negotiations, they turned to Erich Voltmer , then editor of the Saarbrücker Zeitung and a schoolmate of Erich Honecker from the childhood days of the State Council chairman . In the summer of 1980, Honecker actually approved the removal of the monument. It was picked up on March 24, 1981. On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the foundation, the memorial was rebuilt on May 12, 1981 in front of the VDI building at Graf-Recke-Strasse 84 (VDI headquarters 1967-2008) in Düsseldorf . After the sale of the property and the relocation of the VDI to the new location at VDI-Platz 1 in Düsseldorf (VDI headquarters since 2008), the VDI memorial was erected in the inner courtyard of the new VDI building, where it still stands today.
After the political change in 1989 and German unification , the VDI was again active in East Germany. On the occasion of a small engineering day at Harzgerode Castle on June 20, 1992, the director of the VDI Gerber announced that a memorial stele was planned to be erected in Alexisbad in September 1993. A re-implementation of the original monument, which was also discussed previously, did not take place. First, on June 20, 1992, a memorial plaque was unveiled near the original location in memory of the VDI foundation in Alexisbad.
On September 24, 1993, the new memorial stele was unveiled in its current location. A high stele was created again. A small statue is integrated in its upper area, the design of which refers to the original VDI monument.
Both the VDI memorial and the VDI memorial stele bear the inscription:
THE
ASSOCIATION OF
GERMAN
ENGINEERS
ITS
FOUNDERS
The names and places of work of the 23 engineers who constituted the VDI at that location on May 12, 1856 are also to be found.
FRIEDRICH EULER
KAISERSLAUTERN
FRANZ GRASHOF
BERLIN
RICHARD PETERS
HATTINGEN / RUHR
JOS. PÜTZER
AACHEN
WILH. Kankelwitz
BERLIN
HEINZ BRUNSWICK
Insterburg
CARL BISHOP
Mägdesprung
EDWARD GUTTMANN
Insterburg
HEINRICH CARO
MULHEIM / Ruhr
LOUIS Duske
BERLIN
MAX BONER
GOTHA
LINDNER
FRANKFURT / OR
JULIUS BLANCKE
BERLIN
E. HERMANN
BRESLAU
CARL Woywode
BRESLAU
ALFRED Schoeller
COLN
J. Thoma
BONN
F. REIMANN
BERLIN
JULIUS SIEGERT
ELBING
HEINRICH LEZIUS
BERLIN
F. BATHE
BRESLAU
R. LUDEWIG
BERLIN
W. KOHLER
BIELEFELD
On the VDI memorial column there is also the VDI logo, which was valid at the time of the inauguration, and the dedication below:
ESTABLISHED
IN ALEXISBAD
May 12, 1856
In front of the VDI memorial stele there is a plaque on the floor at an angle with the inscription:
Progress essentially consists
in wanting to progress
Seneca
2006
AV Hütte congratulates the VDI on
150 years of existence
On the west-facing side of the VDI memorial pillar there is an inscription about the history of the VDI monument:
THE
1931
HERE
BUILT
MONUMENT
IS SINCE
1981
IN DÜSSELDORF
THIS
MEMORIAL STONE
WAS
AFTER
MAKING
THE UNIT
OF GERMANY
POSITIONED
ALEXISBAD
1993
At the foot of the VDI memorial stele there is a slab on the floor with the inscription:
ALEXISBAD FOUNDING PLACE
OF THE ASSOCIATION OF
GERMAN ENGINEERS
VDI
ON MAY 12, 1856
literature
- Sigrid Elstermann, Thomas Nürnberg, Insights into the history of the health resort Alexisbad , 2008, page 32 f.
- Egar Presia, The engineering monument and its fate in Harzgerode - individual contributions to local history , Harzgeroder Hefte 2, publisher: Stadtverwaltung Harzgerode, 1993, page 83 ff.
Individual evidence
- ^ Association of German Engineers (1996): 140 years of VDI. Dusseldorf.
- ^ Association of German Engineers (1981): 125 years of the Association of German Engineers. Dusseldorf.
- ↑ Manfred Beckert: From memorial to memorial stele . In: Association of German Engineers (ed.): Festschrift 140 years of VDI . Düsseldorf May 1996, p. 49 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 39 '1.4 " N , 11 ° 7' 3.6" E