From 1961

Initiated by

16th Infantry Division and 16th Panzer Division Kameradschaftsbund (ex-servicemen’s association).

Münster City Council provided the site for the memorial free of charge. For the city, it was “a special honour [...] to commemorate these two divisions, which had their centre point in Münster.” The City Council unanimously approved the provision of the site.

Designed by

Designed by Edmund Scharf (Head of the municipal construction department), realised by Heinrich Sievers Jr.

Design

A 2.8 metre high block of sandstone in the shape of an obelisk featuring inscriptions, coats of arms and divisional insignia.

Official opening

April 30th/May 1st, 1961
Location in the city map

Historical context

Object of remembrance

To honour the killed and missing members of the division in the garrison city of Münster.

Historical context

The 16th Panzer Division was formed on August 6th, 1940 by splitting the 16th Infantry Division. The division’s home city was Münster. Following the invasion of the Soviet Union by the German Wehrmacht, in autumn 1942 the 6th Army began its battle for Stalingrad. After capturing large parts of the city, the German army was encircled by the Red Army. Further battles, hunger and cold forced the Germans to capitulate. Stalingrad is considered the turning point of the Second World War. On February 2, 1943, the surviving soldiers of the 16th Panzer Division surrendered at Stalingrad. Of the more than 10,000-strong unit, only 128 soldiers, after years of captivity as prisoners of war, returned.

The Stalingrad Memorial, built in 1961, is one of the few war memorials installed after the foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany that exclusively commemorates soldiers who died in the Second World War.

Public perceptions

The inauguration in late April 1961 was attended by ex-servicemen from the above units, as well as relatives of the dead and missing and senior Münster City Council officials. A joint message was read out from the mayors of four French municipalities which had been directly affected by battles fought by the units during the Battle of France in 1940, and with whom the Kameradschaftsbund had by that time established close contacts.

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