The Gauting war memorial, which was dismantled because of the Sontowski construction site, is back - but different from before.
Some Gautingers find this irritating, but there is a good reason for it.
Gauting
- Long-established
Gauting
residents look puzzled at the rebuilt war memorial with the cleaned stone figure of a young man - he looks towards Bahnhofstrasse and no longer “into the village” as it used to be.
The new direction of view is better, meanwhile, says district home nurse Gerhard Schober.
The monument, unveiled on July 24, 1929, on the parish square in front of the new "KARLS" commemorates the victims of the First and, in the meantime, of the Second World War. It was stored during the construction of the "KARLS" and was put back in its old place last week. Just a little different.
For Kreisheimatpfleger Schober, the new direction of the sculpture is perfectly fine: it really doesn't matter where the figure is looking, he explained on request. The main thing is that this monument does not look directly at the two shopping centers in the complex, says Gerhard Schober. In any case, he is happy that he “managed” the current situation. Initially, the plan was to simply place the sculpture at ground level. However, he insisted that the figure be placed prominently and raised again. Now three steps lead to the hill with the monument. The building authority has also approved the earlier high planting with a row of trees as an enclosure. In addition to him, the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments was also involved, reports Gerhard Schober.
Others disagree. Stephan Limmer, author of the illustrated home story “Gauting, mein Dorf”, is amazed at the new direction of the figure. You have to know that there is an old conflict between the “lower village” and the “upper villa colony” in Gauting. According to the local chronicle of Gautingen, Karl Mayr, there were protests from the members of the Gauting Warrior and Veteran Association when the war memorial was chosen in the 1920s. According to the local chronicle, it was initially planned to locate the war memorial on Pippinplatz in the villa colony. Since the village "sacrificed 53 heroic sons", but the colony "only three", the memorial for the victims of the First World War "must be erected between the village and the colony - to do justice to all parts",the local writer quotes a spokesman for the Gautinger Warriors and Veterans Association almost 100 years ago. And so it happened: On July 14, 1929, the war memorial, financed by the association and the community with around 9,500 marks, was ceremoniously unveiled on the community green area on the upper Bahnhofsberg. The figure from the workshop of the Munich sculptor Karl Himmelstoss can still be seen there today. The Gautingen municipal council decided years ago that the original small square with the war memorial should be retained.The figure from the workshop of the Munich sculptor Karl Himmelstoss can still be seen there today. The Gautingen municipal council decided years ago that the original small square with the war memorial should be retained.The figure from the workshop of the Munich sculptor Karl Himmelstoss can still be seen there today. The Gautingen municipal council decided years ago that the original small square with the war memorial should be retained.
The town hall was not involved in the decision on the type of installation, i.e. the direction of view, said a spokesman yesterday on request - that was more a question of monument protection.
The memorial was dismantled for almost a year and stored at a restorer in Großkitzighofen not far from Buchloe, who, among other things, carried out surface work and repaired joints, according to the town hall.
Christine Cless-Wesle
