Mass grave and memorial complex for air raid victims at Ohlsdorf cemetery in Hamburg
Pictures and text by Mark R. Hatlie
These pictures were taken on 26 April, 2007. The cemetery is one of the largest in the world. It has several sub-sections for war dead. One of them is this large, cross-shaped memorial complex at the site of mass graves for the bombing victims of the city. Most of the people buried here were killed on 27-28 July, 1943 during a British firebombing.
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This is a view from a road within the cemetery looking into the mass grave area. |
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Each arm of the cross is a long, grass mound. extending from the center. The dead or their ashes are buried under the grass. The wooden signs were made in 1944 and erected after the war. They show the names of the section of the city from which the dead are buried. This one reads, "Rothenburgsort," a section on the harbor to the southeast of the city center. |
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All along the edges of the mounds, small private memorials recall the personal memory of relatives. This one shows that 14-year-old "Pummi" is "unforgotten". |
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The sign here is for the city section of "Hammerbrook." The white block is in the center of the memorial complex. |
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The small memorial on the right shows that the Jaensch family lost five people on 28 July, 1943. It would appear to be both parents and sons aged 12, 10, and five. Perhaps a surviving sibling or some other relative put up this little marker years ago. |
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The sign explains the memorial (Deutsch unten): "Memorial for the victims of the bombing war / Dear visitors, under four wide, mass graves arranged in a cross lie 36,918 victims of the Hamburg firestorm, the bombing nights of July and August, 1943. The wooden crossboards show the city sections from which the dead were transported to their final resting place. / The square central building and the relief sculpture inside it were designed in 1947 by Gerhardt Marcks and dedicated in 1952. It uses a monumental and oppressive scene from Greek mythology. It shows the ferryman of the dead, Charon, transporting a couple, a man, a mother with child and an old man across the Acheron, the river which separates the upper world from the realm of shadows. He seems frozen and symbolizes the indifference of organized mass death. The other figures appear apathetic and carry, according to the artist, "their humanity across untouched." By the use of art, the piece tries to preserve dignity in the face of the terrible fate of the city of Hamburg. / Your Ohlsdorf Cemetery." |
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This is the view into the central block. |
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This is the sculpture of Charon carrying the dead into the underworld described on the sign. |
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Looking to the left from the barred doorway... |
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...and to the right. |
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The sign at the memorial reads in German: Mahnmal für die Opfer des Bombenkrieges / Liebe Besucherinnen und Besucher, unter vier breiten, kreuzformig angelegten Massengräbern liegen hier 36.918 Opfer des Hamburger feuersturms, den Bombennächten vom Juli und August 1943. Die hölzernen Querbalken tragen die Namen der Stadtteile, aus denen die Toten zu dieser Ruhestätte transportiert wurden. / Der quadratische Mittelbau sowie das Relief im Innern wurden 1947 von Gerhardt Marcks entworfen und 1952 eingeweiht. Er bedient sich in einer monumentalen und beklemmend wirkdenden Szene der grieschichen Mythenwelt. Dargestellt ist der Totenfährmann Charon, der ein anmutiges Brautpaar, einen Mann, eine Mutter mit Kind und einen Greis über den Acheron setzt, den Strom, der die Oberwelt vom Reich der Schatten trennt. Er wirkt erstarrt und symbolisiert die Gleichgültigkeit des organisierten Massentodes. Die anderen Figuren wirken teilnahmlos und tragen, wie der Bildhauer erläutert, "das Menschliche unberührt hinüber." Mit den Mitteln der Kunst wird versucht, die Würde angesichts der furchtbaren Heimsuchung für die Stadt Hamburg zu wahren. / Ihr Friedhof Ohlsdorf.
