Memorial to the Fallen of the Franco-Prussian War in Karlsruhe
Pictures and text by Mark R. Hatlie
These pictures of a somewhat typical memorial to German wartime and postwar refugees were taken on 25 March, 2006 at the main cemetery in Karlsruhe.
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The wall on the left reads, "In honoring memory of the millions of Germans who lost there lives from violent expulsion, flight, internment, deportation". The six coats of arms represent six groups of Germans: from Russia, Swabians from the Banat area of Rumania, Silesia, East Prussia, Saxons from Siebenbürgen (Transylvania), West Prussia. |
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The wall on the right reads, "Their homeland was Danzig, East Prussia, Pommerania, Silesia, West Prussia, Czekoslovakia and the ancient settlement areas in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Yugoslavia, Poland, Rumania, Russia and Hungary". The six coats of arms represent the Sudetenland (part of what is now the Czech Republic), Swabians from the Danube basin, Pommerania, Carpathian Germans, Danzig and Baltic Germans. The graves of Karlsruhe's air raid victims can be seen in the background. |
