Kriegerdenkmal in Mengede, Gefallene 1914-1918

Whispers of history echo around the Kriegerdenkmal in Mengede, Gefallene 1914-1918. This memorial, standing proudly at 2.1 meters tall and stretching 7 meters wide, holds a story intertwined with the local fire brigade and even the nearby Autobahn. Originally built in 1936, the Kriegerdenkmal in Mengede, Gefallene 1914-1918 was a tribute to the fallen soldiers of World War I. Firefighters constructed the monument on land owned by farmer Wilhelm Menken. Its symmetrical natural stone walls offered quiet spaces for reflection, punctuated by benches where one could sit and contemplate the weight of sacrifice. At its heart lay a large boulder, a glacial erratic found and donated by Hugo Schween. This boulder, once adorned with a bronze laurel wreath, the dates “1914” and “1918,” and the Iron Cross, bears the scars of time, its decorations now incomplete. The Kriegerdenkmal in Mengede has been a silent witness to change, its location shifted not once, but twice. In 1938, the straightening of Königsheide necessitated its first move. Years later, in 1988, the expansion of the A2 Autobahn led to its relocation closer to the Groppenbruch fire station. This move also provided the fire station with a much-needed access road for its equipment house. The Kriegerdenkmal in Mengede, Gefallene 1914-1918 was rededicated in 1991. The original nameplates, listing the 22 fallen from World War I and the 36 from World War II, were replaced with simple bronze plaques bearing only the years of the two global conflicts. A local legend persists: the complete list of names, carefully inscribed on parchment, was sealed within the monument itself, a hidden testament to the lives lost.