Fordington German Prisoners of War Memorial, Dorchester, Dorset

Summary

First World War memorial to German prisoners of war. Erected 1919.

Description

First World War memorial to German prisoners of war. Erected 1919.

MATERIALS: Portland stone panel, stone rubble walls and wrought-iron crosses.

DESCRIPTION: the war memorial is built into a bank on a hillside in Fordington Cemetery and faces north. It is rectangular in plan, 1.8m high, 3m wide and 2m deep. The memorial comprises a carved Portland stone panel of a German soldier, framed by two wrought-iron crosses, all set in an alcove within a coursed and random rubble wall. The panel stands on a plinth and has a moulded cornice and set-back tooled outer edges. At the centre is the carved figure of the soldier, shown in uniform; helmet, trench coat and boots, kneeling, with head bowed and hands clasping an upright rifle. Beneath is the inscription: HIER RUHEN DEUTSCHE KRIEGER IN/ FREMDER ERDE DOCH UNVERGESSEN/ 1914 DORCHESTER 1919 (Translated: ‘Here rest German soldiers in foreign soil yet unforgotten’). The two crosses stand on a step within recesses. They are painted black and detailed in gold. The surrounding wall rises in two tiers on each side of the alcove; the bottom tier projecting out from the main face of the wall and capped with ashlar coping stones. Two corbels are set high in the wall on either side of the alcove. The monument rests on a random rubble and concrete foundation.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 02/07/2018
This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 7 December 2016.

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw a huge wave of public commemoration with tens of thousands of memorials erected across the country. Most commemorated the residents of local parishes that lost their lives during the conflict. However this memorial at Fordington Cemetery, Dorchester, was erected in 1919 to commemorate 45 German prisoners of war (POWs) that died whilst they were interred at Dorchester POW Camp. The memorial was designed by the prisoners themselves; the architect was K. Bartholmay and the sculptor was Josef Walter. It may be the only freestanding memorial dedicated to German POWs to be erected in England immediately following the war. A booklet containing sketches of the memorial and the POW camp is held by Dorset History Centre (Catalogue No. D-2063/1).

The main POW camp at Dorchester opened on 14th August 1914 and was initially based at an empty artillery barracks in Poundbury but was later expanded with an additional wooden hutted camp. At its height in spring 1919, the camp housed 4500 men, equivalent to almost half the town’s civilian population. Prisoners were engaged in local labour; farm work, sweeping Dorchester‘s streets, and maintaining trees on the Town Walks. Thomas Hardy recruited one prisoner to work on his garden at Max Gate.

Most of the 45 prisoners of war that died whilst at Dorchester POW Camp are thought to have fallen ill to a flu pandemic, which also killed some prison guards. The first to lose his life was Bernhard Schneider in August 1915, whose funeral service set a pattern for others that followed. It included a procession through the town, with the coffin laid on a horse-drawn gun carriage followed by about 50 prisoners and an open carriage covered in wreaths. Large crowds attended the ceremony, which also included a gun salute, a brass band and an address by the local pastor.

The Dorchester POWs were repatriated to Germany by late November 1919 and the camp largely demolished, later becoming the site of the Grove Trading Estate. However, a POW memorial was erected at Fordington cemetery prior to repatriation and a service held on Monday 27th October 1919. Annual tributes have been paid by the local populace, and others, since. Notably, in July 1936, a party of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) paid tribute, after cycling to Dorchester from Grimsby where they had arrived by steamship. A wreath was laid at the memorial inscribed: ‘To the beloved memory of our fellow countrymen and gratitude for the respect and care of their resting place’. The bodies of the POWs were exhumed in the 1960s and moved to Cannock Chase German War Cemetery, Staffordshire (a Grade I-registered cemetery). The Fordington memorial was restored in 1990. A further restoration project was launched in 2007 by Dorchester Town Council to repair the masonry and to clean, repair and re-paint, the wrought iron crosses.

Reasons for Listing

Fordington German Prisoners of War Memorial, designed by K. Bartholmay (a prisoner) and erected in 1919 in Fordington Cemetery, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Rarity: an exceptionally rare example of a First World War memorial dedicated to German prisoners of war;
* Historic interest: as a sombre testament to German POWs who lost their lives far from home, and a tangible reminder of the manner in which Dorchester residents came to terms with the adversary in their midst, laying them to rest with care and dignity;
* Design: a dignified and well-crafted design by German prisoners of war, with a carved panel of a German soldier in fine Portland stone masonry, framed by wrought-iron crosses and set into a rubble stone wall;
* Group value: with the Grade I listed Church of St George and Grade II listed Fordington Mill and Princes Bridge.

External Links

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