Why did Dresden erect a Kolonialkriegerdenkmal? This monument once stood in a small park on today’s Sachsenplatz. It sat near the Albertbrücke, Sachsenallee, and Käthe-Kollwitz-Ufer. Today, we’re standing where the Kolonialkriegerdenkmal used to be.
This Kolonialkriegerdenkmal commemorated members of the Royal Saxon Army. They fell in colonial wars. Now, a colorful wooden structure called Palaverhaus marks the spot. Karl-Georg Pfahler, an artist from Stuttgart, created it in 1997. This pavilion-like artwork with colored beams and a glass roof serves as a place for communication.
After the Franco-Prussian War, Germany sought to become a colonial power. This ambition led to conflicts with established colonial powers. Indigenous groups also resisted European military control. The Kolonialkriegerdenkmal in Dresden was the second of its kind in Germany. Düsseldorf had the first, which was initiated in 1908 and inaugurated in 1909.
The Verein Sächsischer Militärverein ehemaliger Überseetruppen Dresden consisted of returning military personnel. They dedicated their flag on August 26, 1911. The group then decided to create a memorial for comrades who did not return. The memorial committee commissioned architect Paul Luther and sculptor Arthur Ernst Berger.
The Kolonialkriegerdenkmal had a raised square base. It featured massive limestone elements on a three-stepped platform. The front, parallel to the Jägerkaserne, displayed the Saxon coat of arms. It was bronze. It featured a diamond and a crown. The inscription read: “To the memory of the 14 officers and 134 non-commissioned officers and men from both Saxon army corps XII and XIX of the Royal Saxon Army who fell in the overseas battles.” Bronze plaques on the other sides listed the names of those who fell in overseas territories. A bronze globe sat on the base. Four dolphins held it up. A Reichsadler with spread wings stood on the globe. A metal fence enclosed the monument. It was integrated into the Sachsenplatz park’s design.
The Verein Sächsischer Militärverein ehemaliger Überseetruppen Dresden covered all costs. The inauguration ceremony took place on October 12, 1913. King Friedrich August III of Saxony attended. Princess Mathilde, Crown Prince Johann Georg, and high-ranking military officers also were there. The chairman of the memorial committee, Abraham, formally handed over the structure. He entrusted it to Dresden’s Mayor Otto Beutler. The Dresdner Anzeiger documented the event. Filmmaker Ernst Hirsch later captured it on film. A unit from the Jägerkaserne marched past the guests. The Hofprediger Schmidt delivered a sermon. He quoted Theodor Körner: “Do not forget the faithful dead and adorn our urn with the oak wreath.”
On May 27, 1923, another wreath-laying ceremony took place. A new memorial plaque honored World War I fallen. It read: “Honorary plaque in memory of the Saxon colonial warriors who fell in the 1st World War.”
After World War II, the Kolonialkriegerdenkmal was deemed worthless and glorifying war. It was completely removed on January 20, 1947. Today, a colorful wooden structure stands where the Kolonialkriegerdenkmal once stood. A relic survived. A plaque with names, dates of death, and regimental numbers of six Saxon colonial soldiers who fell in German Southwest Africa is now in a vestibule of the Garnisonskirche in the Albertstadt.