This war memorial – commemorating the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 – stands in front of the St Laurentius Church in Weinheim.  As in many towns all over Germany, memorials went up to celebrate this particular war and Kaiser Wilhelm I.  A German historian talked of this as the epidemic of monuments brought forth by Germany’s boastful besottedness with national ideals (file:///C:/Users/nukman/AppData/Local/Temp/12240-21601-1-PB.pdf) and I am not at all fond of these glorifications of war.

There is a humorous side note to this particular one.  Johann Wilhelm Goos, a miller in town, was considered to be the epitome of manhood and chosen to be the model for the charging soldier.  He later emigrated to America with his family, where he became wealthy.  To this day, descendants of Johann Goos come to Weinheim and want to see what their ancestor looked like.

This is a more comprehensive look of the church overlooking the market square.

For A Photo a Week Challenge: Light the Night.   More lit up nights can be found here.