Tannenberg Memorial
Tannenberg Memorial | |
---|---|
Olsztynek, present-day Poland | |
Coordinates | 53°34′53″N 20°15′39″E / 53.58139°N 20.26083°E |
Site information | |
Open to the public | Yes |
Condition | Virtually all traces gone |
Site history | |
Built | 1924–1927 |
Built by | Johannes and Walter Krüger, Berlin |
Demolished | 1945, 1950, 1980s |
The Tannenberg Memorial (
Dedicated by Hindenburg on the 10th anniversary of the Battle of Tannenberg in 1924 near
When Reichspräsident Hindenburg died in 1934, his coffin and that of his wife, who had died in 1921, were placed there despite his wishes to be buried at his family plot in Hanover.[3] Adolf Hitler ordered that the monument be redesigned and renamed "Reichsehrenmal Tannenberg". As the Red Army approached in 1945, German troops removed Hindenburg's remains and partly demolished key structures. In 1949, Polish authorities razed the site, leaving few traces.
Concept and design
The memorial embraced the Anglo/French concept of the Unknown Soldier. In doing so, the architects anticipated the concept of Totenburgen (Fortresses of the Dead) housing mass graves of soldiers. This ideology was debated in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. The architects imagined the memorial to be a new völkisch "community of the dead" and incorporated the burial of 20 unknown German soldiers from the Eastern Front into the project concept.[4]
The memorial was built in a prominent place in a shape reminiscent of the castles of the
Opening and dedication
A gathering of thousands came to the dedication of the newly finished memorial on 18 September 1927. The 80-year-old Hindenburg was dressed in the uniform of a Colonel-in-chief of a Masurian regiment to which he'd been appointed by the Emperor (who had since abdicated). His speech was deemed highly nationalistic and in keeping with the times for the Weimar Republic, but was not well received outside Germany since it denied German responsibility for the war. An extract from the speech was later carved into a bronze plaque by the Nazi regime and installed in one of the towers of the memorial. A line of veterans, ten kilometers long and resplendent in Imperial uniforms, paid homage to Hindenburg and the 20 unknown German soldiers from the 1914 battle who were interred at the memorial.[6]
Inn
The architects had also built an inn nearby in traditional East Prussian style. The numbers of visitors did not meet expectations initially but during the Nazi era the numbers were such that the inn required an extension.
The Nazi era
In August 1933 the German government held a massive ceremony at the memorial to commemorate the anniversary of the battle. 1,500 cars transited through the Polish Corridor[7] Among those attending were Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, Franz von Papen and Erich Koch, East Prussia's gauleiter.
A year later, the monument again came to prominence on the death of Paul von Hindenburg. Hindenburg had requested a simple service and that he be interred next to his wife (who had died in 1921) in Hanover. However, Hitler decided to seize the opportunity for propaganda and instructed Albert Speer to ensure that the day was spectacular. It began with the transportation of the deceased president in the dark of night, on a gun carriage, from Hindenburg's East Prussian estate, Neudeck. Following a torch-lit route and escorted by infantry and cavalry, the cortège made its way to Hohenstein.[8]
Modernisation of the memorial
Following the interment of Hindenburg, the memorial once again became a national shrine. To add to the theatre, the government of the Reich again called upon the architectural firm of Krüger in Berlin and using the Stonehenge parallel again; above the entrance, a giant stone (symbolically from Königsberg) was placed, with the Field Marshal's name inscribed upon it. This stone was so large that railway bridges had to be strengthened to aid its transportation. Two giant stone soldiers (as if on guard) were placed outside the tomb. A porphyry statue of the victor, by the East Prussian Friedrich Bagdons, dominated the Hall of Honour above the tomb. The concourse grass was replaced with stone and around the memorial landscape were placed interpretations of the German presence in East Prussia.[9]
The new crypt
Hindenburg was originally buried in the central yard or "plaza" of the monument on 7 August 1934. On 2 October 1935, the anniversary of Hindenburg's birthday, the President's bronze coffin was relocated to a new, sombre chamber where he was joined by his wife Gertrud, who was moved from the family plot in Hanover. The new crypt, which was completed in the autumn of 1935, was located directly below the south tower. To create an entrance to the crypt, Hindenburg and the 20 unknown German soldiers from the 1914 battle were temporarily disinterred, and the level of the plaza was lowered by 8 feet (2.4 m), with stone steps surrounding it on all sides.[10] The unknown soldiers were re-interred in the side chapels.[1] Designed by the Kruger brothers and carved by Paul Bronisch, the entrance to Hindenburg's crypt was dominated by two fourteen-foot sculptures of the Eternal Watch, known as the Ewige Wache, which were carved out of more than 120 tons of Königsberg granite. The mausoleum had a dramatic vaulted ceiling.
Pomp
The re-interment of the
Plans were drawn up to install busts of the commanders and politicians involved in the Polish campaign with tablets inscribed with the
Hindenburg's disinterment and partial demolition of the memorial
In January 1945, as Soviet forces advanced into
On 21 January 1945, withdrawing German forces planted
Dismantling
In the spring of 1949, the
Several significant remnants of the structure can still be seen elsewhere. A perfectly preserved sculpted lion, which once topped an eight-metre pyramid at another war memorial about 300 m beside the monument, is now displayed in the town square in nearby Olsztynek.
After the
Replica
Architect Dietrich Zlomke, born in Heiligenbeil near Königsberg, was commissioned to design a memorial to the dead of East and West Prussia in the two world wars, which was dedicated at Oberschleißheim near Munich in 1995.[15] His choice of design was a smaller-scale replica of the Tannenberg Memorial in concrete, dominated in the centre by an oak cross six metres high and a smaller iron cross on the pale wall at the rear.[14]
References
- ^ a b The Gentlemanly Knight versus the Iron Hun, Geoffrey J. Giles, May 2009
- ISBN 0520217683, 9780520217683, page 107.
- ^ a b Tomb raiders: leaders’ graves have come in for posthumous revenge throughout history New Statesman, 20 March 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-521-85415-3- p38
- ISBN 978-0-88402-260-2p 241
- ^ "Tannenberg Monument". TIME. 2011. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- Versailles Treatyguaranteed these transit rights.
- ISBN 978-0-330-45659-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-330-45659-3.
- ^ Tannenberg: a Monument of German Pride, Peter K. Gessner, date unknown Archived 29 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-0-330-45659-3.
- ISBN 978-0-330-45659-3.
- ^ The Case of the Distinguished Corpses, Will Lang, Life Magazine, 6 March 1950
- ^ ISBN 978-0-330-45659-3.
- ^ Günter Peitz Dietrich Zlomke war ein Brückenbauer 9. Juli 2014 Schwäbische Zeitung (in German)
- Goebel, Stefan. The Great War and Medieval Memory: War, Remembrance and Medievalism in Britain and Germany, 1914–1940. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN 9780521854153.
- Jürgen Tietz: Das Tannenberg-Nationaldenkmal. Architektur, Geschichte, Kontext. Berlin: Verlag Bauwesen 1999.
External links
- (in German) Tannenberg-Denkmal (German Historic Museum)
- (in German) Postcard
- (in English) A Monument to German Pride: A history of the Tannenberg Memorial
- (in English) The Tannenberg Monument: Most Pictures online. German & English