War Memorials

[Woolgar]

A new steel statue commemorating the end of World War One has been put on show in Seaham.

The memorial, called 1101, symbolises the very first minute of peace after the armistice in 1918. The piece was created by artist Ray Lonsdale and will be on show near the existing war memorial in Seaham for the next three months while Ray looks for a buyer


Nick

[HPL2008]

Having spent a nice Easter Weekend at Leipzig in Saxony, I naturally had to visit the massive Völkerschlachtdenkmal [Monument to the Battle of Nations] there.

For more information on this famous monument, see:

V
Monument to the Battle of the Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here are some impressions:

Outside view of the 91-meter high memorial. The pool in front of it symbolizes the lake of tears for the fallen:




The ten Wächterfiguren [guards] below the viewing platform are ca. 12 meters tall:






The archangel Michael at the foot of the monument, flanked by two reliefs measuring 19 meters height by 30 meters width.










The Krypta [crypt] is the symbolic grave for the battle's 120,000 fallen. It is guarded by 8 pairs of warrior statues.
On the level above in the Ruhmeshalle [hall of fame] are four massive, 9.5 meters tall statues symbolizing the traditional virtues of bravery, faith, sacrifice and fertility:












Above the Ruhmeshalle is the Sängergalerie [singers' gallery]. The view from the gallery down on the hall of fame:






Two views up the dome, which is decorated with 324 horseman figures:

[don_kihotis7]

Wow Andreas, that is a marvelous monument.
By the pictures one cannot understand it's massive size.

[HPL2008]

Yes; they sure don't build them like they used to. By the way, it was designed by Bruno Schmitz, the same architect who designed the Kyffhäuserdenkmal. (Haven't yet visited that one, though.)

[don_kihotis7]

That is another impressive structure too.
Looking forward for another thread update after your visit ;-)

[HPL2008]

I finally got around to taking pictures of two memorials in my hometown Landshut.

Memorial to the fallen of the war of 1870/1871 at the Bismarckplatz [Bismarck Square]:










World War II memorial in the Hauptfriedhof [Main Cemetery]:








(There is also a 1914/18 memorial in the Neustadt, but currently there is some pipelaying work going on around it, so I didn't take a photograph of that one.)

[sandgroper]

Great photos Andreas.

[Jerry B]

Memorial to the fallen in the Boer war from Carmarthenshire, in Carmarthen town.

[HPL2008]

Having just returned from a holiday trip to London, here are a few new additions:

The Roll of Honor at the Natural History Museum:



Also at the Natural History Museum, the memorial plaques to the staff members who died in WW1 and WW2:






Memorial at the Science Museum to the staff members who died in the two World Wars:




A memorial snapped during a sidetrip to Canterbury:

[HPL2008]

Just about every town and village in Bavaria has a local war memorial, ranging from humble plaques to impressive stone monuments (and sufficient in number to fill countless pages of this thread).

Here is one rather fine example of this tradition.

It is the Kriegergedächtniskapelle [Soldiers' Memorial Chapel] of Hittenkirchen (municipality of Bernau) in the Chiemgau region of Upper Bavaria. The chapel was built in 1923 and is somewhat unusual for a local war memorial in that it was not erected in the center of the village, but on open ground, offering a view of Lake Chiemsee and the mountains.

Outside view of the roadside chapel. It is nicely flanked by two trees and surrounded by a low hedge. (The German and Bavarian flags are displayed on the flagpoles in front as my visit was on a holiday):




The inscription above the altar translates as "From the community of Hittenkirchen as a memory to its fallen 1914/18 1939/45".
The walls are adorned with the names of the casualties, listed with their date of birth and date and place of death. The 14 names of those who fell in World War I are on the rear wall, to the left and right of the altar:




The 45 names for World War II are on the left and right wall. Note the stained glass windows with the white-and-blue lozenges from Bavaria's flag and coat-of-arms:




Most of the names are locals who were killed in action. The final section of names is headed "Died as victims of the war". One name is of particular interest here: Oberst Rudolf Graf von Marogna-Redwitz was sentenced to death and executed as one of the conspirators in the failed Hitler assassination of 20 July 1944:




Much tragedy had befallen the family in WW2. Found on the opposite wall are the names of his two sons Rudolf and Hubert, both of whom had been KIA in Russia in 1942...