War memorial memorial Fallersleben

By Maik Ullmann

In the winter of 1958, the Reichsbund der Kriegs- und Zivilbeschädigten, Sozialrentner und Hinterbliebenen, the Kyffhäuser-Kameradschaft, the Heimkehrerverband, the Kriegsgräberfürsorge and the Bund der Hirnverletzten, the individual local groups of these important institutions of social and survivors' care as well as comradeship care of the German post-war period, joined together to form the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Kriegsopfer und Kriegsteilnehmerverbände der Stadt Fallersleben (Working Group of War Victims and War Participants Associations of the City of Fallersleben), in order to lend emphasis to a common concern: The construction of a war memorial for the fallen of the Second World War. Already 13 years had passed since the "German surrender" in May 1945 and still no dignified memorial had been created, the associations complained in a letter to the then city director Otto Wolgast in December 1958.-__-0000-__- How little they reflected on the memory of the end of the war, however, is initially reflected in the name of the working group, but should also be made clear by the municipality in the further course of the construction process of the monument again and again. At the same time as the efforts of the newly formed working group, the city director had already committed himself to the project - probably without having taken note of the letter from the association, which apparently only reached him at the end of October of the following year.-__-0001-__-.

While Wolgast had answered an inquiry from the Brunswick stonemasonry workshop Dellner & Hüser in December 1958 with the remark that the matter was not yet "ready for discussion",-__-0002-__- the situation looked different only half a year later. In Dr. Werner Lindner from Hermannsburg, the managing director of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Friedhof und Denkmal e.V., founded in Kassel in 1952, Wolgast found an ambitious fellow campaigner who was to drive forward the planning and construction process in the following months until the memorial could be inaugurated on Memorial Day, November 19, 1961.

Wolgast, a long-time member of the NSDAP and removed from his position as mayor of Fallersleben by the Allied Control Council on July 2, 1945,-__-0004-__- had apparently dedicated himself to the task of commemorating the fallen of World War II himself and now had an architect at his side in Werner Lindner, who was driven by similar motives. Lindner was not an unknown quantity either: during the Second World War, he was active as a cultural reformer and design advisor on the question of introducing "Germanness" into occupied Poland, and he was involved in the murder, expulsion and resettlement of the Jews and "non-Germanizing" Poles living there to the so-called "Generalgouvernement". Under the slogan "Home to the Reich," "ethnic Germans" from the "Wartheland" and Danzig-West Prussia were to "Germanize" the country instead.-__-0005-__- Whether the two actors had already met during the Nazi era cannot be proven on the basis of the files evaluated. For what reasons the apparently also very committed working group of war victims and war participants associations of the city of Fallersleben was kept out of the conception process of the memorial during the following years remains unclear after inspection of the files.

As a typewritten note of May 11, 1959 shows, the municipality of Fallersleben was initially anxious to enter into a cooperation with the Hanoverian state conservator Dr. Heinz Wolff for the construction of the memorial.-.However, the latter did not feel able to provide a requested design proposal,-__-0007-__- because it would require "loving detail work, which I cannot do for you".-__-0008-__- Wolff's idea, however, to use the quarry stone wall located between the pond and the church in the castle park as a support for the future memorial, met with positive approval.

Wolf also recommended that an architect be consulted and, at the same time, advised the administration to contact the above-mentioned Arbeitsgemeinschaft Friedhof und Denkmal (Working Group for Cemetery and Monument). On Tuesday, August 11, 1959, its managing director, the architect Werner Lindner, traveled to Fallersleben for the first time for the purpose of visiting the castle park and the adjacent church grounds. He, too, considered another free-standing monument "inappropriate" -__-0000-__- and agreed with Wolff's proposal. Because with the stele for the fallen of the First World War, the Waterloo memorial and the cross of the "East displaced persons" there were already three monuments in the immediate vicinity of the church square.

Therefore, Lindner argued in his expert report as follows: "If one appreciates the moving nature of the site, the stately pond, the grove of old deciduous trees leaning against it, opposite it the unique brewery house, which it is hoped can be restored when it is put to a new useful purpose, the stand of trees near it, the small former brewer's dwelling next to it, in front of which sandboxes have been laid out for the little children, and finally the church with the tall stand of trees of the churchyard, all this forms a delightful unity."-__-0000-__- In addition, the architect attested the centrally located place the function of a worthy "mood bearer", which would be upgraded again by the construction of a new memorial.

Almost a whole year should now pass, until the continuation of the project on the part of the municipality was again forced. Due to a "study trip with the destinations Rotterdam and Zurich", so Lindner apologizes at the beginning of his letter of April 1960, it was not possible for him to give an interim report at an earlier time.-__-0001-__- Accordingly, both he and the Hermannsburg sculptor Friedrich Eichstaedt recommended to use Oberkirchen sandstone with its own foundation for the plaques to be erected. Finally, Lindner requested - and this long before an official commission - the names of all "to be honored" of the place, in order to complete the project promptly. In the following July, Lindner came to Fallersleben once again to present his preliminary design and a model from Eichstaedt's workshop and received the "undivided applause" of all those present.-__-0002-__- Although the Gifhorn district building inspector Saling was initially also among the possible applicants for the realization of the monument, he apparently withdrew his design. Nevertheless, the two Hermannsburgers were not the only ones on the short list: In the following month, the Fallersleben administrative committee discussed, in addition to this proposal, the submission of the Braunschweig stonemasonry workshops Dellner & Hüser.-__-0003-__- The Wolfsburg sculptor Maximilian Stark also remained an option. After that, the traces are initially lost, until in February 1961 Werner Lindner inquired in a short letter whether the "matter" with him and the sculptor Eichstaedt would be pursued. Barely a month later, apparently spurred on by Lindner's letter, an invitation was promptly sent to the meeting that was ultimately to bring about the decision: In the presence of mayor Karl Heise, city director Otto Wolgast, the working group of war victims and war participants associations of the city of Fallersleben and several councilmen the following decision was made: The stele for the fallen of the First World War will be removed from the castle park, the memorial to be erected will be made according to Lindern's design and shall honor the "fallen and missing of both world wars".-__-0004-__- Only the question about the appropriate inscription remained unanswered.

The following options were debated:

"The town of Fallersleben mourns and honors its victims in two world wars. 1914/18 - 1939/1945" -__-0000-__- respectively "From Fallersleben fallen and died in the two world wars 1914 - 1918, 1939 - 1945", were the suggestions of the Fallersleben pastor Starotzik as well as the superintendent Grote. The latter pleaded in his letter for an addition of "Für die Heimat" or "Für's Vaterland" to the inscription,-__-0001-__- which received little attention within the committee. The administration finally decided on the following wording: "To the victims at- | of the world wars | in honorable | memory". The "fallen and missing" in the war of the place were stylized in short to victims. This fits into the national culture of remembrance of the post-war society, in which a perpetrator-victim reversal had established itself early on.-__-0002-__-.

This was apparently also the case in Fallersleben: A list of the names of all those killed in the Second World War, sent to Werner Lindner in June 1961,-__-0003-__- shows that, in addition to farmers, privates and non-commissioned officers, six members of the Schutzstaffel are also among the dead.-__-0004-__- This already saw itself during the National Socialist "fighting period" as a Germanic elite unit following the racial-hierarchical ideas of Heinrich Himmler.-__-0005-__- As a Germanic elite unit following the racial-hierarchical ideas of Heinrich Himmler.__-0005-__- As an instrument of terror within the party and, from the beginning of the war, as military divisions, the SS units are emblematic of Nazi tyranny and the policy of extermination pursued between 1933 and 1945.-__-0006-__- Accordingly, since the decision of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal of October 1, 1946, all SS formations, with the exception of the Reiter SS, were legally considered criminal. As a consequence, two former Nazi functionaries, Lindner and Wolgast, created a memorial sign carved in sandstone in the heart of Fallersleben for a group of former SS members who were legally classified as criminals.

Sources:

-__-0000-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, Dr. Werner Lindner's expert opinion of August 17, 1959, p. 5.
-__-0001-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, AG der Kriegsopfer und Kriegsteilnehmerverbände der Stadt Fallersleben an die Stadtverwaltung vom 2. Dezember 1958.
-__-0002-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, Submission to the meeting of the Administrative Committee of November 11, 1959.
-__-0003-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, City Manager Otto Wolgast to the firm Dellner & Hüser dated December 22, 1958.
-__-0004-__- Otto Wolgast, Fallersleben 1930-1972. Wolfsburg 1974, p. 105.
-__-0005-__- See the entry on Otto Wolgast in Hildegard Krösche, "Biografien der Fallersleber Bürgermeister," in: Brage bei der Wiede/Henning Steinführer (eds.), Amt und Verantwortung. Träger kommunaler Selbstverwaltung im Wirkungskreis der Braunschweigischen Landschaft. Braunschweig 2015, pp. 101-135 (Otto Wolgast: pp. 123-127), here p. 125.
-__-0006-__- Barbara Banck, Werner Lindner. Industrial modernity and regional identity. Diss. Techni. Univ. Dortmund 2001 -__-0007-__-, p. 199.
-__-0008-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, The state conservator of Hanover to the city of Fallersleben, May 11, 1959.
-__-0009-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, Der Stadtdirektor an den Herrn Nieders. Landeskonservator of May 16, 1959.
-__-0010-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, The Hanover State Conservator to the City of Fallersleben dated May 25, 1959.
-__-0011-__- Here and in the following StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, Dr. Werner Lindner's expert opinion of August 17, 1959, p. 1.
-__-0012-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, expert opinion of Dr. Werner Lindners dated August 17, 1959, p. 2.
-__-0013-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, Dr.-Ing. Werner Lindner to Mr. Wolgast, city manager, dated April 27, 1960.
-__-0014-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, minutes of a meeting concerning the memorial, July 5, 1960.
-__-0015-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, submission to the meeting of the Administrative Committee of August 19, 1960.
-__-0016-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, minutes of the joint meeting of the Administrative and Building Committees of March 2. 1961.
-__-0017-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, Pastor Starotzik to Otto Wolgast dated June 14, 1961.
-__-0018-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, Superintendent Grote to Otto Wolgast dated June 13, 1961.
-__-0019-__- Frauke Klaska, "Kollektivschuldthese," in Torben Fischer/Matthias N. Lorenz (eds.), Lexikon der "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" in Deutschland. Debate and Discourse History of National Socialism after 1945. 2. unver. Aufl. Bielefeld 2009 -__-0020-__-, pp. 43f., here p. 44.
-__-0021-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, Otto Wolgast to Werner Lindner, June 22, 1961.
-__-0022-__- StadtA WOB, HA 10843, vol. 2, Verzeichnis der Gefallenen. Parish of Fallersleben. Not dated.
-__-0023-__- Bastian Hein, Elite für Volk und Führer? The General SS and its Members 1925-1945. munich 2012, p. 132.
-__-0024-__- Bernd Wegner, "Anmerkungen zur Geschichte der Waffen-SS aus organisations- und funktionsgeschichtlicher Sicht," in Rolf-Dieter Müller/Hans-Erich Volkmann (eds.), Die Wehrmacht. Myth and Reality. Munich 2012, pp. 405-419, here p. 407.

Published 11/7/2018

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