Gazing upon this Kriegerehrenmal War memorial a silent question hangs in the air. What stories does this solemn place hold?
The Kriegerehrenmal War memorial is located near the cemetery in Großholthausen on Kruckeler Straße. It stands opposite Löttringhauser Straße. The city of Dortmund and some southern suburbs commissioned the sculptor Fritz Richter-Elsner to create it.
The Kriegerehrenmal War memorial was erected shortly before the Second World War. However it was inaugurated at the beginning of the war. The ceremony included Nazi symbols like swastika flags and uniformed soldiers. Ruhr region writer Ernst Giesing attended the event as a child. He could not separate the memorial from the terror of the Nazi regime. He would have preferred to see it destroyed.
The Kriegerehrenmal War memorial is elevated by several steps. A life-size bronze figure dominates the site. It depicts a uniformed soldier with a steel helmet and fixed bayonet. The circular area is about 25 meters in diameter and fenced. At the rear is a semi-circular wall made of rustic sandstone. It features strong divisions and figurative reliefs. Plaques commemorate the dead of both World Wars.
War memorials are built after a war to remember the fallen. They are built before a war to encourage revenge and heroism.
The Hombruch district council addressed this issue years ago. It decided to keep the Kriegerehrenmal War memorial unchanged despite objections. To provide context for future generations it added an inscription in bronze.
The bronze plaque states The memorial for war victims dominated by the upright guardsman suppresses death and grief. It conceals the meaninglessness of war. It is a historical representation and a testimony of its time. In 1935 the National Socialist regime was already preparing for the Second World War.
The original nameplates of the Kriegerehrenmal War memorial were stolen after the Second World War. In 1959 stonemason Josef Kniola father of former Interior Minister Franz-Josef Kniola replaced the Ruhr sandstone plates. The Reinoldigilde and the Hombruch district council supported the Kriegerehrenmal War memorial restoration in 1999.
The back wall of the Kriegerehrenmal War memorial displays the names of the suburbs on pillars. A memorial plaque for the dead of both World Wars is at the center of the back wall. Allegorical figures represent Klein- and Großholthausen Auf dem Schnee Löttringhausen and Kruckel.
As you stand here remember the layers of history. Remember the intent the interpretations and the lives touched by this Kriegerehrenmal War memorial.