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Historical Bronze Statues for Postwar Scrap


Fritz

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Hamburg, postwar photo, May 1948. A collection of historical bronze statues in a Hamburg backyard, which had been due for melting down for war metal, but saved by the end of the war. The original text of the photo states; "Hopefully, they will soon be turned into cooking utensils and other usefull items of daily life." See original text. More damage to historical substance  and cultural heritage was done postwar than during the war itself. This trend seems to be recently on the uptake again. In the forground statues of Bismarck, King George of Saxony and Martin Luther, as well as a French general of the period 1870/71 can be seen.

Hamburg, Denkmäler aus Metallsammlung Illus-dpd Vergangene Pracht Auf einem Hamburger Hinterhof stiess im Mai 1948 unser Bildberichter durch Zufall auf dieses Sammelsurium von Denkmälern, die während des Krieges hier zusammengetragen wurden, um - wie die Kirchenglocken - in Kanonen umgegossen zu werden. Das Kriegsende bewahrte sie vor diesem Schicksal. Hoffentlich verwandeln sie sich recht bald in Kochtöpfe und andere nützliche Dinge des täglichen Bedarfs. 25.5.48 [Herausgabedatum]

 

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The enormous statue of Kaiser Wilhelm at the "Deutsches Eck" in Koblenz, where Rhein and Mosel meet. It was shot off it's pedestal by an approaching American tank in early 1945. Restored in the mid 1950s, reconstructed in 1993.

The Kaiser Wilhelm memorial in Hamburg was moved several times. Originally as from 1903 at the Rathausmarkt, as in photo postcard depicted, later removed to the front of Hamburgs court of justice, again dumped in a far away corner of Plonten un Blomen, the city gardens, where it is less noticeable. The main group of statues and ornaments has long since been dissolved and either broken up or scattered in various places.

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  • 1 year later...

http://www.exulanten.com/monuments.html

 

Destruction Of German Monuments~ Monumental Destruction
 
 
 
 
Little would Friedrich have guessed that the name "Prussia" would be formally expunged from
international language by order Number 46 of the Allied Control Commission on February 23,1945
because, as it incorrectly stated: "Since time immemorial it has been the pillar of militarism and
reaction in Germany". The state of Prussia still legally existed for a time after war's end but proved
to be an obstacle to the Allied division of Germany into four easily controlled zones of occupation
structured to "stabilize political structures" in their concept of a new Germany since it was a large
state with its various regions included in all four zones.

Calling Friedrich the Great a "forerunner to Hitler", in February of 1947, in an act of remarkable
arrogance and stupidity, and in total disregard of historical fact, the Allied powers issued a formal
decree abolishing the ancient German State of Prussia.

There was a spectacular monuments to Friedrich which once graced Marienburg, site of the old
Teutonic Knights castle and revered symbol of German cultural history and national consciousness
which was torn away and given to communist Poland. The monument was destroyed. A mass grave
holding the remains of thousands of German Prussian civilians murdered in cold blood by the Red
Army has recently been discovered nearby.
 

Germany was a land of grand monuments dating from well before the Middle Ages. The US led
MFA&A reported that in Germany alone, over 90 percent of the monuments had been hit by Allied
bombings, and 60 percent had been destroyed. The rest were at the mercy of the occupying forces
or new governments in lands taken from Germany. Allied directives issued in 1945, as part of the "re-
education" process, demanded the destruction all German monuments and museums deemed
"patriotic, nationalistic or idealizing German culture". The reasoning behind this process was based in
theories propounded by World War One propagandists which concluded that Germans were
genetically more violent than other ethnic groups and had to be "de-militarized" in such a manner that
they would lose the "German Will to Wage Future War". Rampant cultural devastation then ensued
by the occupying Allied forces all over Germany, and few objects were exempted from this crusade.

(more under link above)

 

 

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Entirely destroyed and removed after 1945 - Kaiser Wilhelm Nationaldenkmal, Berlin

 

 
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