By Maik Ullmann

Surrounded by parking garages, located directly on the multi-lane B 188 and thus directly on one of the city's main traffic routes, the Old Wolfsburg War Memorial can be found on the grounds of the Volkswagen plant. At the end of a path leading off from the "Schloss" bus stop, surrounded by the constant change of shifts and lively automobile traffic, the memorial looks like a forgotten relic from the time of the Weimar Republic. But this was not always the case: more than 15 years before the founding of the "City of the Kdf-Wagon near Fallersleben", the memorial, embedded in the middle of the oak grove created at that time, was centrally located between the villages of Heßlingen, Rothenfelde/Rothehof and Wolfsburg Castle. At that time, the settlements and the farmstead were still connected by a wide road, from which the memorial site, situated on a meadow, could be reached via a branch. Situated in the middle of nature, the memorial was not only a silent place of remembrance, but also present in the everyday life of the population.

"Ich hatt' einen Kameraden" (I had a comrade) - intoned by the men's choral society of Heßlingen, the soldier's song "Der gute Kamerad" (The good comrade), written by Ludwig Uhland in 1809, formed the musical prelude to the inauguration ceremony of the memorial erected in Old Wolfsburg in honor of those who died in the First World War. With the words of the last verse, the memorial was unveiled in front of the eyes of numerous participants with a staging accompanied by bright sunshine. The ceremony was concluded with the laying of a wreath by Count Werner von der Schulenburg (1857-1924) and Countess Frieda née Freiin vor dem Bussche-Ippenburg (1871-1949).

As is not unusual for agrarian regions, the towns and villages bordering Wolfsburg Castle were hardly affected by the social transformation processes triggered by the end of the Empire. The canon of virtues and values remained largely valid among the local population.-__-0000-__- So it is not surprising that the celebration in the early afternoon of May 14, 1922 was held entirely in the nationalist-conservative tenor. Neither the deaths of the German front-line soldiers, which were usually perceived as senseless by politically left-wing circles, nor the suffering of the bereaved found a place here. Instead, the unconditional loyalty to the fatherland of the fallen was invoked and the task of the next generations to save Germany from its downfall was emphasized. The statement of the chairman of the district warriors' association, Professor Bröckler, who also acted as the architect of the monument, was carried by particular pathos: "And even if we no longer live to see the chains imposed on us break, we still owe it to our dead -__-0001-__-."-__-0002-__- With this metaphor, Bröckler ultimately alluded to nothing other than the peace treaty of Versailles, which was perceived as a gagging agreement and which was followed by a period of inflation and economic decline. The scarcer food and labor became, the more rapidly resentment rose within the population. This bitterness was exploited by right-wing conservative and reactionary forces. The often lamented "Disgrace of Versailles" became a symbol of the oppression of the German population.

During the ceremonies of the monument's inauguration in Old Wolfsburg, the count's administrative director Steinhof, himself a member of the monument's committee, appealed to the patriotism of all present, recalling Friedrich von Schiller's drama Wilhelm Tell: "To the fatherland, to the dear one, join, d-__-0003-__- hold fast with all your heart. Here are the strong roots of your strength."-__-0004-__-.

Built on the south side of the castle and in the midst of an oak grove of Elm limestone planted at the time of the monument's erection,-__-0005-__- the war memorial is an example of the inexpensive classicist style often chosen in the region around Wolfsburg Castle. Framed on the right and left sides by a pillar decorated with oak leaf strips, a wall about one and a half meters high forms the base for an arch supported by columns. Three honorary plaques are set into the walls, carved with the names of soldiers from Heßlingen, Rothehof-Rothenfelde and the Wolfsburg homestead who died in the war. A sword standing on its tip can be seen on both columns; between the two swords, an ivy bush stretches across the arch. Protected by the arch structure, a fourth honorary plaque decorated with an iron cross protrudes from the center, on which the central message of the monument is formulated: "You gave your life  for the fatherland  to you life  will be won". After the centrally positioned Iron Cross entwined with laurel, it continues: "In the World War  1914 - 1918  died for the Fatherland". This is followed by the three name plaques with a total of 49 recorded fallen.

Above the fourth panel is a Grand Cross of the Iron Cross entwined with a wreath. As the highest of all Prussian honors for wartime deeds, this special form of the Iron Cross, adorned with an imperial crown, a W standing for Wilhelm II and the year 1914, has been awarded to only twenty people in its history, including Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Edwin von Manteuffel and Paul von Hindenburg. It is possible that the splendor of this special award was also intended to be bestowed upon the fallen common soldiers of the front. The inclusion of this special form of the Iron Cross represents a considerable contrast to the otherwise mostly "simplicity and dignity" -__-0000-__- classicist monuments.

Characteristic of the milieu-specific culture of remembrance -__-0001-__- of the early Weimar Republic are both the two swords and the Iron Cross. These symbols add another component to the already soldierly character of the memorial: the cult of the fallen. The heroization of the fallen German soldiers, which thus became clear, was one of the central themes of the national-conservative camp.-__-0002-__- The laurel leaves are dedicated to the heroic service for their fatherland, which they had to pay for with their lives, according to this reading. In mythical-Germanic tradition they symbolize bravery. Thus, they correspond to the Iron Cross, which in turn was awarded as a distinction for particularly brave actions in wartime. The group of oak trees is also one of the Germanizing motifs.-__-0003-__- If such heroic groves were often used as a substitute for gravestones, this cannot be proven for the Old Wolfsburg Memorial. Rather the grove stands here symbolically for the rising Germany, freed from any yoke, as Professor Bröckler still demanded in his speech.

What devastating consequences the First World War had for a small village like Heßlingen, which had exactly 342 inhabitants in 1910, can be seen from an entry in the local school chronicle made by the local teacher Willy Reinemund on February 16, 1926: "1922 - 105 children/1923 - 90 children (loss of births due to the war)."-__-0004-__- As many as 20 men of the community had lost their lives in the First World War.

In order to pay a last tribute to the 56 fallen soldiers of the communities of Heßlingen, Rothehof and Rothenfelde from the Second World War, four plaques were added on Sunday, November 16, 1975, on the International Day of Mourning,-__-0000-__- on which their names are listed.-.__-0001-__- In those days, the city-wide discussion about moving the memorial, which arose in the early 1950s in the course of planning for a bypass, had long since died down.-__-0002-__-.

The contemplated relocation to the Piazza d'Italia or to the castle park was shelved in August 1964 on the advice of the structural engineering department. And this also because "the benches in front of honorary monuments in large parks vagabonds and lovers -__-0000-__- as a refuge -__-0001-__-",-__-0002-__- so the finger pointing of a building official, who warned against any acts perceived as immoral and unwanted visitors alike.

In the end, after years of debate, the memorial remained in its original location directly on the B 188, which is quite different today than it was when the memorial was inaugurated.

Sources:

-__-0000-__- Benjamin Ziemann, "The Memory of the First World War in the Milieu Cultures of the Weimar Republic," in Thomas F. Schneider (ed.), Kriegserlebnis und Legendenbildung. Das Bild des "modernen" Krieges in Literatur, Theater und Film. Vol. 1. Osnabrück 1999, pp. 249-269, here p. 253.
-__-0001-__- "Monument dedication," in Der Bote, May 18, 1922.
-__-0002-__- Ibid.
-__-0003-__- "Monument dedication in Wolfsburg," in: Aller-Zeitung of May 23, 1922; StadtA Wob, HA 6278, vol. 2, note: Re: relocation of the Alt-Wolfsburg memorial, dated August 4, 1964.
-__-0004-__- Meinhold Lurz, Kriegerdenkmäler in Deutschland. Vol. 4. Weimar Republic. Heidelberg 1985, p. 136.
-__-0005-__- See the text on the Vorsfelde memorial.
-__-0006-__- Sabine Behrenbeck, "Zwischen Trauer und Heroisierung. Vom Umgang mit Kriegstod und Niederlage nach 1918," in Jörg Duppler/Gerhard P. Groß (eds.), Kriegsende 1918. Ereignis, Wirkung, Nachwirkung. Munich 1999, pp. 315-339, here p. 316.
-__-0007-__- Here and in the following Lurz, Kriegerdenkmäler in Deutschland. Vol. 4. Weimar Republic (as note 6), pp. 197f.
-__-0008-__- StadtA Wob, HA 3588, vol. 1, school chronicle of Heßlingen, entry dated February 16, 1926.
-__-0009-__- That this was common practice in the Federal Republic is shown by Susanne Brandt, "Denkmalpolitik und Grabmalkunst 1919-1924," in: Gertrude Cepl-Kaufmann/Gerd Krumeich/Ulla Sommers (eds.), Krieg und Utopie. Art, Literature and Politics in the Rhineland after the First World War. Essen 2006, pp. 389-393, here p. 389.
-__-0010-__- "Ceremonies for Volkstrauertag: Citizens should not stand on the sidelines," in: Wolfsburger Nachrichten, November 14, 1975.
-__-0011-__- "Bauamt erhielt keinen Vorschlag," in: Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, July 31, 1959; StadtA Wob, HA 8938, An das Dezernat IV im Hause, Betr.: Planung Alt-Wolfsburg, July 10, 1964.
-__-0012-__- StadtA Wob, HA 6278, vol. 2, Memo: Re: Relocation of the Alt-Wolfsburg memorial, dated August 4, 1964.

Published on 7.11.2018