War memorial in Zemmer
Pictures and text by Brittney Castillo
This memorial is located in the small town of Zemmer, Germany. The site for this memorial is located on the church grounds in front of the entrance doors. According to the inscription on the back of the memorial the main pieeace was erected in 1922 (MCMXXII) and commemorates the soldiers from the town who fought and died in WW1. The 6 grave-like markers placed in front of the center plaque were added later. They list the names of the townsmen who fought and died or went missing in action in WWII. The pictures were taken on December 9, 2009.
|
This is a full view from the sidewalk of the memorial. You can see the entrance doors to the church, as well. |
|
An overview of the whole memorial including, the center plaque and 6 grave-like markers in front leading up to the plaque. The plaque has a heading that states, their homeland the heroic son or Die Heimat Ihren Heldensohnen. A very interesting part of the monument is the center plague that is surrounded by a holly wreath. A holly leaf and berries are a symbol for this town and are found on Zemmer's town crest. There is a path between two stones in front of the monument that leads up to the center plaque. Inside one of these stones is a light that illuminates the monument at night. |
|
The forward left marker gives the names of WWII soldiers who died in 1939 to 1942. A catholic cross is on head of the marker. |
|
The middle left marker lists the names of WWII soldiers who died in 1943. A catholic Chi Rho is on the head of the marker. |
|
The rear left marker lists more names of WWII soldiers who died. A catholic JHS symbol and cross are on the head of the marker. |
|
The bottom section of the WWI center plaque. Lists the years 1914-1918. There is a newly placed holiday wreath resting between the dates. Above this is a line of thorns. |
|
The left hand side of the monument that lists the names of the soldiers and the date they died fighting in WWI. |
|
An up close view of the family center piece of the plaque shows a woman holding her husband's hand while looking to the ground and holding her head with her other hand. There is a small boy clinging to his father's leg while looking towards him. The husband is dressed in his uniform and holding his gun in his left hand. He is looking back to his family but leaning forward with his left leg and foot. |
|
An up close view of the right hand side of the monument's plaque. It lists more names of soldiers that fought in WWI and the dates of their death. |
|
This is the cross on top of the monument that has the catholic symbol of Chi Rho with the Alpha symbol on the left and the Omega symbol on the right. These symbols mean that all things begin and end with Christ. |
|
The rear right marker which reads, "Vermisste" or missing in action, with an oak leaf on both sides. It lists the names and years of the soldiers who went missing during WWII. There is a cross with 5 dots beneath the ground heading this marker. |
|
The middle right marker lists names of soldiers and the year 1945. There is a cross with one dot beneath ground heading this marker. |
|
The forward right marker lists the names of soldiers and the years 1945 and 1951. There is a cross with a thorn underneath it heading this marker. |
|
View of the back of the monument plaque and the church. It is worn and hard to read. |
|
The inscription at the base of the monument lists the date of erection in 1922 (Errectum A.D. MCMXXII) and names of two different individuals that are rather hard to read. I believe they say M. Klot and J. Adam. There is also another name of Beltingen at the very bottom. |
