From 1925

Initiated by

13th Infantry Regiment Traditionseinheiten/Kameradschaftsverein (ex-servicemen’s association). The regiment was known as the Dreizehner (Dreizehn = thirteen).

Designed by

Designed and realised by sculptor Heinrich Bäumer senior

Design

The six metre high sandstone pyramid is decorated with a variety of symbols representing victory and battle and is crowned with an Iron Cross. The pyramid rests on four stone spheres, each about 60 centimetres in diameter. The base is square.
On the front is a relief of a lion, symbolising bravery and strength. On the rear is a relief of a naked warrior with his right arm resting on a sword. Drawing on familiar Christian motifs, the warrior suggests a resurrection to fight future battles. Next to him is a laurel-wreathed helmet symbolising victory.

Official opening

The foundation stone was laid on June 3rd, 1923.The monument was completed in October 1923 and inaugurated on May 3rd, 1925.
Location in the city map

Historical context

Object of remembrance

Commemoration of those who died in the First World War. The war memorial serves to venerate fallen ‘heroes’ and is revanchist in character. The appeal for donations by the Dreizehner officers’ Traditionsverein was explicit about the political statement its members wished the war memorial to make: they wished to continue the war that had ended five years previously in order to overcome the supposed shame of Versailles. In commemoration of the dead, they wanted to “finish their work”. (Münsterische Anzeiger, June 3rd, 1923). Some Dreizehner officers had revanchist beliefs. These included Franz Pfeffer von Salomon, who was later active in helping to build the Nazi Party in Westphalia as a leader of the Freikorps paramilitaries.

After the Second World War, the commemoration was extended with the addition of the words “In honour of the dead of both World Wars” to the front of the memorial. The extension of the commemoration referred specifically to the dead of 79th Infantry Regiment. The regiment was deployed to the 16th Panzer Division in Russia, which in 1943 was almost completely destroyed at Stalingrad.

Historical context

13th Infantry Regiment was formed in 1813 as the 1st Reserve Infantry Regiment and had been known as the 13th Infantry Regiment since 1816. It saw action in the Second Schleswig War, the Franco-Prussian War, the Boxer Rebellion in China, the suppression of the Herero uprising, and the First World War. The regiment was dissolved as part of the Treaty of Versailles. 1936 saw the founding of 79th Infantry Regiment, which in the Second World War served in the 16th Panzer Division in Russia.

Predecessor

A first Dreizehner Memorial, known as Germania, was erected in 1872 at Ludgeritor. The statue stood on a platform bearing the names of the soldiers of the regiment who died in the Franco-Prussian War. On top of a platform stood the female figure of Trauernde Germania (Germania in mourning). It was moved to Neubrückentor in 1935 and destroyed in the Second World War.

After the dissolution of the regiment following the Treaty of Versailles, the enlisted soldiers were used to safeguard the new Weimar Republic. Some of the officers joined Freikorps (“free regiments”, paramilitary units) to fight against democracy.

Public perceptions

Official acts of commemoration have been held at the Dreizehner Memorial since 1963. On Volkstrauertag (the German day of remembrance), victims of war and violence were commemorated by representatives of the German War Graves Commission, German ex-servicemen’s associations and Münster City Council. On November 19th, 1989, the official service of commemoration was followed by protests from peace groups including the German Pacifist Society. They criticised the unreflecting honoring veneration of all soldiers and called for a more nuanced commemoration. In 1992 and the years that followed, graffiti with anti-war messages were regularly removed from the memorial. Since 2016, the official act of commemoration has been held on Platz des Westfälischen Friedens behind the Rathaus.

Dreizehnerstraße in Münster was named after the regiment in 1926.

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