Tag: war
All Quiet
“But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony–Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy.”
Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
“Aber du warst mir vorher nur ein Gedanke, eine Kombination, die in meinem Gehirn lebte und einen Entschluß hervorrief – diese Kombination habe ich erstochen. Ich habe gedacht an deine Handgranaten, an dein Bajonett und deine Waffen – jetzt sehe ich deine Frau und dein Gesicht und das Gemeinsame. Vergib mir, Kamerad! Wir sehen es immer zu spät. Warum sagt man uns nicht immer wieder, daß ihr ebenso arme Hunde seid wie wir, daß eure Mütter sich ebenso ängstigen wie unsere und daß wir die gleiche Furch vor dem Tode haben und das gleiche Sterben und den gleichen Schmerz -. Vergib mir, Kamerad, wie konntest du mein Feind sein.”
Erich Maria Remarque, Im Westen nichts Neues
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Places of Remembrance
This is the war grave memorial in Modautal. There are other cemeteries in Europe with graves from soldiers and civilians of many nations of the two world wars in the 20th century to remember these victims. They should be memorials not so much of “lest we forget” but rather of “never again”. Sadly, it hasn’t worked.
We Don’t Need More Memorials
War memorials often show soldiers or warriors or national emblems. This one in Guttach in the Black Forest shows the survivors.
Firm stands the watch
The late 19th century, after the Franco-Prussian War which lead to the unification of Germany was a great time to build monuments to the glorification of Germany. One such monuments (I almost wrote monstrosities) is the Niederwald Denkmal in Rüdesheim am Rhein.
It features a more than 12 metres high personification of Germania, holding aloft the laurel crown of the victor and the sword, pointing downward, as well a symbol of victory.
At the foot of the huge figure is this relief of 133 Germans considered important – all of them life-size to give an indication of the size of the monument. Underneath, larger than life, are the Rivers Rhein (male) and Mosel (female), Father Rhine handing the horn of the guardian to his daughter (tributary) Moselle hinting at the land gain of Elsass und Lothringen (Alsace and Lorraine) through the means of war.
The words are the verses of hymn called Die Wacht am Rhein, the watch towards the west, the heriditary enemy France, glorifying the blood that is ready to be spilled for the German Reich. We all know how that ended.
For One Word Sunday: Monumental, on this day of the “open monument” in Germany which will see me looking for less martial examples of monuments.
Flowers and missiles
I came across this mural in München, Germany (Munich). Intellectually, I understand the juxtaposition between war/war machinery and the beauty found in flowers and traditional ceramics and porcelain. But overall – I am not really convinced that it works for me.
For Monday Murals. More murals can be found here.
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