By Maik Ullmann

According to historian Sabine Behrenbeck, the early post-war years up to 1924 were characterized by a veritable flood of monuments. There were even entire catalogs from which the most diverse variants could be selected, from simple stone memorials to detailed representations of figures. This stone form of commemorative culture ultimately lasted until the 1930s.-__-0000-__- Particularly rural towns and communities expressed their collective mourning for those who had died in the war in the form of a monument during this period.-__-0001-__- Since the monument at the Vorsfeld Cemetery of Honor -__-0002-__- was not dedicated until June 14, 1925, it could be interpreted as a latecomer to this first great wave of memorials.

But its history goes back to the year 1921, when it was initiated by the then mayor Wilhelm Schulze.-__-0000-__- However, the planning had to be stopped already in October 1922 due to the continuing inflation and the associated radical devaluation of money, which also destroyed the donations of private individuals and associations collected over a period of a little more than a year.-.A look at the research literature shows that Vorsfelde was not an isolated case, as the same can also be seen in the Düsseldorf district of Gerresheim. Here, too, the massive devaluation of the collected funds initially prevented the planned construction of the memorial.-__-0002-__- In addition to this reason cited by the messenger on the day of the laying of the cornerstone of the Vorsfelde memorial on May 6, 1925, another reason for the delay seems to have been decisive - this is suggested by the examination of earlier sources:
The memorial commission, which was especially appointed for the supervision and realization of the project, already considered the cemetery of honor as a place of installation in its considerations at an early stage and negotiated accordingly with the church.-__-0003-__- But despite a negotiated contract the realization failed to materialize. Quite obviously, those responsible took exception to paragraph 4, which was printed in the Boten on July 27, 1922: "According to the contract, the church leaves the cemetery to the parish free of charge, but reserves the right of ownership and supervision."-__-0004-__- A passage that was considered unacceptable by the Monument Commission. Further negotiations were completely stonewalled by the parish council, which apparently insisted on carrying out what had been agreed upon, so that in October of the same year the sobering news of the abandonment of the "beautiful-__-0005-__- project-__-0006-__-" erreichte.-__-0007-__-
For almost a year, the monument question then disappeared from public discourse. It was not until July 30, 1923, on the occasion of the preparation of the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the warriors' and country soldiers' association of Vorsfeld, that the issue was to receive renewed momentum.-__-0008-__- Despite food shortages and a strained economic situation, the residents of Vorsfeld held fast to the building project. Nevertheless, another year passed until Mayor Schulze was able to negotiate a new contract between the church and the community. This was now actually approved by both sides,-__-0009-__- so that the monument should finally find its place on the cemetery of honor.

Again financed by donations from the community,-__-0000-__- the memorial commission finally agreed on a favorable, classicistic monument form -__-0001-__- according to a design by the Harz architect Professor Carl Mühlenpfordt, who at that time taught at the Technical University in Braunschweig.-__-0002-__- His concept was finally realized by the Vorsfeld sculptor Martin Voll.
The monument, which is placed in the center of the cemetery of honor, is mainly unadorned: Only the two columns, which frame the main part including the inscription of the memorial, are decorated with a trim of plastic ovals (called "egg bar" in technical terminology). On the left and on the right there are two curved wall parts, on each of which the names of the fallen of Vorsfeld are listed on two stone tablets according to the date of their death. The memorial was intended to give meaning to the war deaths of fellow citizens. This consistent action manifests the zeitgeist of the last period of the Weimar Republic, in which a shift to the right within the bourgeois middle broke out, which finally led to the election of Paul von Hindenburg as president of the Reich. This at the same time expressed the continuing attachment to monarchical-national structures.-__-0003-__-
The period after the end of the First World War was characterized by competing views of history. In this context, associations and especially those whose actions were guided by revanchist and right-wing conservative thinking repeatedly emerged as authoritative actors who knew how to influence the population. Those active in the associations used the Treaty of Versailles, which the far right rejected as a "dictatorship" and "shameful peace," and the weak economic situation to win over the middle class to their ideological principles. Purposefully disseminated war myths, such as the "Dolchstoßlegende" or the mythically transfigured "Augusterlebnis," were instrumentalized to shape a national conservative mentality within the population.-__-0004-__- The war memorials that created identity also fit into this pattern. Right-wing conservative circles used them to instrumentalize lost virtues as well as the heroization of soldier death for their right-wing propagandist party and association work.-__-0005-__-.
The Bund der Frontsoldaten, also known as Stahlhelm, was one of the driving forces in this phase. In Vorsfelde, too, a corresponding local group was formed on November 4, 1923. It was precisely this anti-republican association that, in addition to commemorating the founding of the German Empire -__-0006-__-, was also committed to the construction of the monument. The association, which was actually considered non-partisan and formed a local unit with the other nationalist forces,-__-0007-__- furthermore promoted the election of Paul von Hindenburg as Reich President with leaflets and posters in Vorsfelde in the spring of 1925.-.__-0008-__- This same person had already accepted the honorary presidency of the Kriegerverein a year earlier, on April 24, 1924, after spending several days at Wolfsburg for the flag dedication of the Heßlingen local group.-__-0009-__-.
The widespread longing within the population for the empire, with whose downfall also the then prevailing virtues seemed to be lost,-__-0010-__- finally found expression in the inscription of the memorial, which was also von Hindenburg's motto: "Loyalty is the marrow of honor." The verse, taken from Friedrich Schlegel's 1809 poem "Gelübde," was banned in Prussia that same year.-__-0011-__- In the zeitgeist of the early 1920s, the verse emphasized the supposed unconditional loyalty to the fatherland of German front-line soldiers who placed the defense of nationalistic values above the welfare of themselves.
The Vorsfeld memorial, however, does not exclusively commemorate the fallen of the First World War. In the spring of 1953 voices were raised within the community demanding an extension of the memorial in honor of the fallen of the Second World War -__-0012-__- - which was not uncommon in the Federal Republic of Germany, as numerous monuments of the First World War were supplemented accordingly after 1945.-__-0013-__- There was no longer any question of a euphoric frenzy for a memorial as there had been 20 years earlier - which was to become quite evident in practice. For at first, those responsible found neither an architect nor a sculptor who could be won over for the planned extension. Due to the tight time frame, both the Vorsfeld architects Willi Schmidt and Rolf Nolting, who had been approached, and the sculptor Martin Voll, who had already realized the first monument, cancelled.__-0014-__- Professor Johan Daniel Thulesius, at that time architect and university lecturer at the TU Braunschweig, advised the municipality on inquiry, "to tear down the now existing memorial".-__-0015-__- The cost-benefit calculation of a redesign was not räsonabel, since the present "condition could not be repaired by extensions". The drafts for the competitive bidding document the prevailing disagreement on how to proceed regarding the monument. While the planning in the first draft of the redesign was still based on the "existing-__-0016-__- memorial", which was to be "extended by two lateral extensions of 2.50 meters in length",-__-0017-__- it was stated in the introduction to the second that the "existing memorial will not be changed".-__-0018-__- Likewise, the idea circulated to refrain from listing the names of the fallen and to refer only to the national affiliation.-__-0018-__- The idea was that the memorial should be "extended by two lateral extensions of 2.50 meters in length".__-0019-__- Ultimately, the community decided on an addition as well as an enumeration of the names in alphabetical order according to their year of death.
After the approval for a remodeling by the building inspectorate of the district of Helmstedt arrived on September 16, 1954, an architect was found in Willi Schmidt, and the extension work was assigned to the Vorsfeld stonemason Wilhelm Kögler, the remodeling could begin.__-0020-__- At the ends of the wings, pillars and masonry made of sandstone were added, as well as additional plaques in the style of the year 1925.__-0021-__- At the ends of the wings, pillars and masonry made of sandstone were added, as well as additional plaques in the style of the year 1925.__-0021-__- If the municipality also strived for a completion to the national mourning day on 14 November 1954, then this date could not be kept nevertheless.-__-0022-__- From an own inauguration celebration after completion of the work to 6 December of the same year was obviously refrained.-__-0023-__-

In the course of a school project of the Phoenix-Gymnasium in Vorsfeld, the war memorial came back into the focus of local politics and the inhabitants of Wolfsburg in the fall of 2014: Since the inscription of the memorial is close in content to the motto of the SS - "My honor means loyalty" - and both glorify nationalistic virtues, the students demanded a redesign of the memorial.__-0000-__- Various forms of redesign were discussed - from explanatory plaques to an area memorial to the use of the memorial as an extracurricular place of learning. Even if it seems as if the war memorials have completely disappeared from everyday life, the lively press echo showed the importance of a critical approach to the culture of remembrance of past generations.

Sources:

-__-0000-__- Susanne Brandt, "Denkmalpolitik und Grabmalkunst 1919-1924," in Gertrude Cepl-Kaufmann/Gerd 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.
-__-0001-__- 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. München 1999, pp. 315-339, here pp. 323f.; "Denkmalsschmuck auf dem Lande," in: Der Bote, November 22, 1921.
-__-0002-__- "Consecration of the memorial," in: Der Bote of June 18, 1925.
-__-0003-__- Here and in the following "Laying of the foundation stone of the memorial", in: Der Bote of May 12, 1925.
-__-0004-__- "Municipal Council Meeting," in Der Bote, November 5 and 26, 1921; "Laying of the Foundation Stone of the Memorial," in Der Bote, May 12, 1925.
-__-0005-__- Brandt, Denkmalpolitik und Grabmalkunst 1919-1924 (as note 1), p. 392.
-__-0006-__- "Monument Commission," in Der Bote, March 25, 1922.
-__-0007-__- "Honorary cemetery matter," in: Der Bote of July 27, 1922.
-__-0008-__- "Meeting of the Monument Commission," in: Der Bote of October 21, 1922.
-__-0009-__- "The Warriors' and Country Armed Forces Association," in: Der Bote of August 2, 1923.
-__-0010-__- "A Meeting of the Monument Commission," in: Der Bote, September 11, 1924.
-__-0011-__- "Municipal Council Meeting," in Der Bote, June 21, 1924; "Monument Fund," in Der Bote, August 7, 1924.
-__-0012-__- Meinhold Lurz, Kriegerdenkmäler in Deutschland. Vol. 4: Weimar Republic. Heidelberg 1985, p. 146.
-__-0013-__- "A Meeting of the Monument Commission," in Der Bote, September 11, 1924.
-__-0014-__- Benjamin Ziemann, "The Memory of World War I in the Milieu Cultures of the Weimar Republic," in Thomas F. Schneider (ed.), Kriegserlebnis und Legendenbildung. The Image of the "Modern" War in Literature, Theater, Photography, and Film. Vol. 1: Before the First World War. Osnabrück 1999, pp. 249-270 here p. 252; Matthias Brodtmann, Geschichte Vorsfeldes. Vol. 2: The change of the village in the 20th century. Wolfsburg 1995, p. 50 and p. 35.
-__-0015-__- Behrenbeck, Zwischen Trauer und Heroisierung (as note 2), p. 318.
-__-0016-__- Ibid, p. 316f.; "Inauguration of the Memorial," in Der Bote, June 13, 1925.
-__-0017-__- "Stahlhelm," in: Der Bote of January 22, 1924; "Graf Luckner kommt!" In: Der Bote, May 13, 1924.
-__-0018-__- Christian Saehrendt, The War of Position of the Monuments. War Memorials in Berlin in the Interwar Period (1919-1939). Bonn 2004, p. 158.
-__-0019-__- "Election Day," in Der Bote, April 30, 1925.
-__-0020-__- "Hindenburg is Honorary Chairman of the Stahlhelm," in: Der Bote, April 26, 1924; "Wolfsburg, April 24. Fahnenweihe," in: Der Bote, April 26, 1924.
-__-0021-__- Behrenbeck, Zwischen Trauer und Heroisierung (as note 2), p. 321.
-__-0022-__- Karen Hagemann, "'Mourning Calls to All of Us'. (Self-)Designs of Patriotism and Masculinity of 'Political Romantics' at the Time of Austria's Antinapoleonic Wars, 1809 and 1813-15," in Christian Aspalter/Wolfgang Müller-Funk/Edith Saurer/Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler/Anton Tantner (eds.), Paradoxes of Romanticism. Society, Culture and Science in Vienna in the Early 19th Century. Vienna 2006, pp. 123-147, here p. 124.
-__-0023-__- StadtA Wob, HA 10150 (*2013), excerpt from the municipal council meeting of July 6, 1953.
-__-0024-__- Brandt, Denkmalpolitik und Grabmalkunst 1919-1924 (as note 1), p. 389.
-__-0025-__- StadtA Wob, HA 10150 (*2013), Architect Rolf Nolting, To the Municipality of Vorsfelde, July 23, 1953; Ibid, Architect Willi Schmidt, To the Municipality of Vorsfelde, July 24, 1953; Ibid, The Municipal Director to Sculptor Martin Voll, October 13, 1953.
-__-0026-__- Here and in the following StadtA Wob, HA 10150 (*2013), note by the municipal director, May 25, 1954.
-__-0027-__- StadtA Wob, HA 10150 (*2013), competition "memorial" Vorsfelde, identification number 567890.
-__-0028-__- StadtA Wob, HA 10150 (*2013), competition "memorial" Vorsfelde, identification number 12345.
-__-0029-__- StadtA Wob, HA 10150 (*2013), announcement no. 57/1954 of October 15, 1954.
-__-0030-__- StadtA Wob, HA 10150 (*2013), Der Gemeindedirektor über die Genehmigung für die Baugestaltung des Ehrenmals, 16 September 1954; ibid, Willi Schmidt über die Baubeschreibung zur Erweiterung des Ehrenmals, 28 July 1954; ibid, Das Bauamt an Steinmetzmeister Wilhelm Kögler, 5 October 1954.
-__-0031-__- StadtA Wob, HA 10150 (*2013), architect Willi Schmidt, construction description for the extension of the memorial, July 28, 1954.
-__-0032-__- StadtA Wob, HA 10150 (*2013), cost estimate for the municipality of Vorsfelde.
-__-0033-__- StadtA Wob, HA 10150 (*2013), The municipal director on the extension of the memorial, December 9, 1954.
-__-0034-__- Pilot project and concept for motion 12/13 of the SPD faction in the council of the city of Wolfsburg "Memorials and war memorials to today's commemorative culture", May 26, 2016; Marcel Glaser, "Undemocratic hero worship or admonishing commemoration against the war? Über den gegenwertigen Umgang mit Kriegerdenkmalen am Beispiel des Ehrenmals in Vorsfelde vom 9. Oktober 2014," available online at www.wolfsburg.de/~/media/wolfsburg/statistik_daten_fakten/izs/vorsfelde_bericht.pdf?la=en-DE -__-0035-__-.

Published 11/7/2018