War Memorials
- many erected after WWI, especially in countries that experienced the most suffering
- most memorials are in Europe because battle sites were in Europe
- tradition of creating war memorials in public places was established prior to WWI
- prior to WWI, however, there were more monuments celebrating war victories than memorials commemorating the dead (e. Triumphal Arches)
- memorials were a way to grieve and argue for continued peace
- desire to erect memorials continued during WWII
- private: families & individuals create memorials at home for private mourning
- public: memorials in urban areas accessible to large number of people
- rural memorials are destinations to attract visitors to reflect
- urban memorials are in public places: marketplaces, churchyards, street corners
- transformed battlefields and cemeteries often site for memorials
- utilitarian memorials have a function besides memorializing the dead, ex. museums, parks, bridges, hospitals
- non-utilitarian memorials (arches, sculpture, monuments) serve only as sites of remembrance
- Some memorials included lists of names of men lost (Tiepval)
- Cenotaphs are empty tombs that represent those bodies never recovered from war (ex. Whitehall Cenotaph)
- Some memorialize the remains of an unknown soldier (eg.Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Arlington National Cemetery)
- 1st instance was Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey simultaneously interred w/French at Arc du Triomphe after WWI
- provide a site for recognition and mourning
- most people visit memorials of special occasions, Veteran’s Day (Armistice Day)
- memorials are frequently politicized (see 3.3 Politics)
- recognize groups of people whose status is in some way marginalized
- conservative to appeal to large audience
- drawing upon classical Greek, Roman & especially Egyptian motifs (see 4.0 architecture...)
- medieval (Gothic) motifs and ref to Christianity, ex. Christian iconography - pieta in France
- allegorical figures used to represent virtues such a justice, valor, liberty
- since most memorials are often funded publicly, using Christian iconography is problematic in the US (due to separation of church and state)
- memorials require significant budge
- local and national governments supplied funds
- charitable contributions
- US has no national WWI memorial
- formed by friends of the District of Columbia War Memorial in August 2008, as a not-for-profit foundation. Frank Buckles, who died at the age of 110, was a resident of West Virginia and the last surviving American veteran of World War I, and is our honorary chairman.
- The World War I Memorial Foundation exists to advocate for a national World War I Memorial on the national mall in Washington DC.
- The current bill, The Frank Buckles Memorial Act (HR 222), would release property on the National Mall north of the WWII Memorial for a National WWI Memorial
- District of Columbia World War I Memorial
- Maya Lin’s Vietnam War Memorial
- Kollowitz' Mourning Parents, and/or Pieta in the Neue Wache, Berlin
- Jagger's Royal Artillery Memorial
- Walter Gropius’ Memorial to the March Dead, 1921. dedicated to the memory of the workers who died in Weimar resisting the Kapp Putsch. 1936 deemed "degenerate art" by the Nazis and destroyed.
- Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial
- Tannenberg Memorial
Liberty Memorial, Kansas City, 1926.
Liberty Memorial Association
Harold Magonigle
Location and Analysis
- 100 men and women, lead by Robert A Long
- to represent the war-time contributions from the residents of Kansas City
- chose to build a non-utilitarian monument, in a central urban setting
- raised $2.5 million; 1/4 of the population participating
- campaigned from schools, meetings, newspapers, etc. from all ages & classes
- highly publicized, wanted the best architects to compete for the commission
- local architect Thomas Kimball organized a committee in 1921 to review submissions
- Harold Van Buren Magonigle from NY selected
Harold Magonigle
- most significant legacy is in the world of memorial designs
- designed the William McKinley National Memorial in Canton, Ohio
- already recognized in the field before he won the commission
Location and Analysis
- located in popular urban center
- important element in city’s skyline (217 ft above courtyard)
- open space around the monument to allow visitors to reflect and remember
- Central shaft/tower with "flame of inspiration" (re eternal flame)
- shaft has 4 piers topped w/allegorical guardian figures carved by Robert Aitken, representing virtues: Honor, Courage, Patriotism, Sacrifice
- 2 Assyrian sphinxes guard entry: Memory (faces east > battlefields/France) & Future (faces west >future)
- great frieze of Progression of Mankind from War to Peace - by veteran Edmond Amateis (48 x 488 ft)
- Memory Hall w/bronze tablets listing 441 KC soldiers who died & portion of "Pantheon de la Guerre"
- Exhibit Hall: gallery space; flags of the 22 Allied nations
- Memory Hall & Exhibit Hall: mosaic tiles depict night sky strewn w/gold stars- rep. the sacrifice of the Gold Star Mothers
- cinerary urns rep. branches of service: Army, Navy, Red Cross, Agriculture & Manufacturing, and Transportation
- "In Honor of Those Who Served in The World War in Defense of Liberty and our Country"
- dedication wall: incorp bust of allied leaders present @ dedication: Jacques-Belgium, Diaz-Italy, Foch-France, Beatty-G.B.
- completed in 1926 & dedicated on Veterans Day
Monument to the Missing of the Somme, Thiepval, 1932.
- most significant memorial after WWI
- recognizes >72,000 British & South African soldiers listed by regiment, missing
- 150 ft high, of red brick faced with Portland Stone (British convention)
- influenced by classical victory arch; 16 stone piers
- 16 laurel wreaths w/names of the sub-battles that made up the Somme
- Cross of Sacrifice
- Stone of Remembrance a.k.a. the War Stone is situated in the raised section at the center of the memorial; carved with “Their Name Liveth For Evermore”, which was suggested by Kipling. Phrase ref. Ecclesiastes, 44:14, “Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore”
- shows unity of Britain and France during the war
- located in France (battle site) but a British Memorial (both flags are flown)
- cemetery attached with 600 graves; British Commonwealth marked with rectangular stones, the French with crosses
- "Here are recorded names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between 1 July and 18 November 1916."
- gaps in the listings = bodies found & buried, removed fr monument
- unveiled by Edward, Price on Wales on Aug 1, 1932
- ceremonies are held November 11 & July 1, annually
- designed the Thiepval Memorial and the Cenotaph at Whitehall (central London)
- Whitehall Cenotaph inspired many other memorials & persists as an active site for preserving memory
- architect with the Imperial War Graves Commission
- also known for work in Delhi; country houses
There is so much more information on war memorials(!). It just makes my brain numb...to go deeper start with this rather exhaustive wikipage