76er Memorial in Hamburg-Dammtor, 1914–1918 and other Hamburg Highlights

[Fritz]

76er Memorial in Hamburg-Dammtor
1914 1918
This memorial for 1914-18 for Infanterie-Regiment Hamburg (2.Hanseatisches) No. 76 was errected in 1936. The artist involved was the well known sculptor and architect Richard Kuöhl. The monument has been a point of much controversy in the post WW2 years, and was often damaged and daubbed with paint in the 1970s till mid 1990s by left wing protesters.. Some of the figures around the friese, a marching column of field grey figures, have lost various parts, edges of helmets, noses, bayonets, fingers, etc. Pure wanton vandalism in all. Nearby is also a bronze plate in memory of the casualties of Panzergrenadier Regiment 76 for WW2 nearby an anti-war memorial was errected by Alternatives and Antifascists, otherwise there was much talk of removing all memorials.
Hamburg Infantry Regiment 76 saw much action in WWI, in all, 40.000 citizens of Hamburg, serving also in other units, were casualties of the Great War. The regiment, together with its Reserve.Inf.-Regt.76 lost over 6.000. In 1914, in Belgium and at Langemarck, later on the Somme (July 1916), Guillemont and Combles. A large number of the casualties lie in Sallumines in France (Ehrenfriedhof des IX. Armee Korps), others at the German cemetery in Langemarck.
Listed on a stone wall errected near the main memorial are following: Lüttich, Mons, Marne, Ourcq, Moulins s.T., Les Eparges, Somme, Arras, Flandern, Cambrai, Grosse Schlacht (March 1918), Monchy-Bapaume, Valenciennes
and for R.I.R.76: Noyon, Bouvraignes, Souchez, Givenchy, Somme, La Bassée, Somme, Ypern, Arras, Flandern, Kemmel, Canay sur Matz, Le Câteau,
The next photo shows a typical Hamburg scene, taken over the Alster (the great lake) in mid January 2005 at sunset. This shows the city silhouette, the spires of the Town Hall and main churches and a few building cranes. A lot has changed since 2005.

Inscription: Deutschland muß leben und wenn wir sterben müssen

 

[leon21]

Very interesting,

 

Here's a couple of souvenir holiday photo's from 70 years earlier, almost same view.

[Fritz]

Excellent postcards of the Alster in Hamburg! On the one card is a round building in the foreground – this is the Alsterpavillion, damaged during the war and since twice rebuilt. This is situated along the Jungfernstieg, in the background is the “Neuer Jungfernstieg”, the large building in the background is now Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten (Four Seasons), now in the hands of a Japanese investor. The Alster ferries are still popular today, especially with tourists, and are run by the “Alster Touristik”, which used to be owned by the City of Hamburg, but now belong to the Italian Insurance firm “Generali”. The other photo is taken looking towards Ballindamm, with the large Hapag-Lloyd building in the middle, still there today. A lot has changed since those days, and even the nice atmosphere of just around ten years ago has gradually disappeared, times are really changing.

Along the skyline when looking towards the Jungfernstieg are the Town Hall (Rathaus), built in 1897, survived the war, and the well known churches, some of which had to be rebuilt, Katharinenkirche, Jacobikirche, St.Gertrudskirche and the “Michel”, which was rebuilt by an English architect after the Great Fire of Hamburg in 1842, in which most of the old city, which was largly wooden-built, fell to the flames. Collecting old postcards is still very popular over here, and in Hamburg, cards of Hamburg interest are specially in demand. These are often reproduced in recent publications about Old Hamburg. Hamburg has a tradtion as a port and with a free customs area “Freihandelszone”, which arose in the period of 1867-1870, and was still effective up till the Great War. The cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck, amonsgt others, belonged to the famous Hansa League in the middle ages, and profited from trade with overseas and distant lands. This tradition is upkept till the present day, and there is much talk of “Hanseatic Tradition”. The State Cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck, were always Republics within the German Empire, whose states were otherwise all monarchies, these small states were an exception, which was greatly tolerated. Amongst the Hanseatic States, there was also a great tradition of “Tolerance”. The Hanseatic Cities were involved in the Napoleonic wars, and were occupied by Napoleon. The Northern German States were annexed by the French and incorprated into the “Kingdom of Westphalia” under King Jerome Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon. French was to be introduced into all spheres of life, and German was to be abolished by order of Napoleon. All able-bodied men were conscripted into Napoleons armies, and many Germans perished in Russia during Napoleons catastrophal campaign. When in October 1813,m the tide turned with the Battle of Leipzig, many deserted to the Allies. The Kings German Legion had already been formed long before, a Russisch-Deutsches Legion was also formed in Russian services, and the three Hanseatic States also formed their own “Hanseatic Legion”, which is commemorated by a silver oval medal for the campaigns 1813-1815, upon which are the combined shields of these cities. This medal is now quite rare. The photos are well pre-war.

An example of the silver medal for the Hanseatic Legion, Bremen-Lübeck-Hamburg

[leon21]

Excellent info Fritz, thanks.

 

The photos are 2 from a set of 12 views of Hamburg, from a photo album I obtained a few years ago, it's full of photo's of

German Cities and towns from the late 20s to mid 30s and some post war in the British Zone up to 1950.

 

There are photo's of Scharbeutz, Northeim Gottingen Niedersaschen, Hannover, Cologne, Minden, Luneberg, Dusseldorf,

Celle, Koblenz, Bonn, Ahrweiler, Ahrtal, Berlin, Kiel, Lubeck, Hamburg, and the Seven Hills area.

[Fritz]

Excellent - Niedersachsen is however, not a town, but a state in northern Germany and at the same time a geographical region of Northern Germany (The old name was Hannover, which is today only the city of Hannover)

And here is a snapshot of an Alster Ferry, "the Eilbek", present day on a nearby canal of the Alster, villas in the background. This is one of about 10 of the Alster Touristik, and all are round about 100 years old. The "Eilbek" and most of the other Alstertouristik boats were piloted for many years by Hans Erich Baxmann (Hansi), 1938-1997, who lived in Wandsbek (photo with the "Eilbek").

Most well known boats of the Alsterflotte:

Alstercabrio I
Alstercabrio II
Alsterschipper
Alsterschwan
Aue
Alstersonne
Alsterwasser
Ammersbek
Bredenbek
Eilbek
Fleetenkieker
Goldbek
Quartierslüüd
Saselbek
Schleusenwärter
Seebek
Sielbek
Susebek
 

 

The "Eilbek" on one of the Alster canals

 

Alsterkapitän Hans-Erich Baxmann, Schiffsführer on the "Eilbek"

Schaffnertasche von der Alster Touristik, over 100 years old, used by Hans Erich Baxmann

Hans Albers, said to be the natural father of Hans-Erich Baxmann, there is an extraodrinary likeness.

 

 

 

[Fritz]

Information updated

[Fritz]

The Competitor of the Alster Touristik is Käp'n Matthias Kruse, who runs his own vintage steam driven Alster Ferry, the "Sankt Georg"
Matthias originally learnt the "ropes" from Hansi Baxmann, and later set up his own business, buying and restoring the "St. Georg" from
Dresden after the Wall came down. The "St.Georg" is the only steam-powered craft on the Alster. A local news article from 19.6.2013.

[Fritz]

 

 

[Fritz]

Parade in Hamburg, 1937

 

[Fritz]

 

[Fritz]

Film unfortunately no longer available

Hamburg, Plonten un Blomen, Konzert, Sunday, 8.September 2019, Russian Dancers (start and then click symbol to the right for sound)

[Fritz]

The Jungfernstieg on the Alster at the turn of the century. The same boats are in use today.

A view of the waterfront at the port.

Aerial view of docks and shipyards.

Another aerial view of the port

An early photo from the 19th century

The port in the late 19th Century with "Viermaster" and Schlepper

The "Woterkant" in earlier times

The Fischmarkt in St. Pauli

Demolition of a noble old building, the Kehrwiederspitze in the port.

Somewhere in the port, photo without caption.

Landungsbrücken and Elbtunnel, a more recent photo

[Fritz]

Memorial for the uprising in Schleswig-Holstein against Danish rule, 1848-49, errected 1898

An image on a contemporary postcard. The memorial no longe exists, there is no record of it's removal

Altona, 1898 Graf Waldersee and veterans of the Schleswig-Holstein Armee of 1848-50 at the unveiling of a monument of the campaign against Danish rule.

[Fritz]

The stone has aparently been discovered, recovered and re-erected, according to Wolfgang Vacano of the Altonaer Stadtarchiv, the bronze plaque measuring ca. 60x90 cm, however, is missing.  (July 2020)

https://www.altonaer-stadtarchiv.com/

Der Gedenkstein war seit Jahrzehnten irgendwie "verschollen" und vom Leiter des Altonaer Stadtarchivs, Wolfgang Vacano, wieder entdeckt worden und mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Arbeiter (Jan Rechter u.a.) der sehr engagierten Fa. Maschmann GmbH (Garten- und Landschaftsbau) wieder aufgestellt worden!

[Fritz]

Denkmal für die Gefallene des Ersten Weltkriegs in Övelgönne

Kriegerehrung im Lutherpark, Bahrenfeld

Lage des Denkmals vor der Verlegung

Denkmal der Schwedenspeisung am Blankeneser Elbufer

Kaiser Wilhelm Denkmal in Bergedorf

Denkmal der U-Boot Bunkerruine Fink II

Eppendorf, Friedenseiche von 1871