![Feldherrnhalle_München](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Feldherrnhalle_M%C3%BCnchen.jpg)
The Feldherrnhalle (Field Marshals' Hall) is a monumental
loggia
In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...
on the
Odeonsplatz
The Odeonsplatz is a large square in central Munich which was developed in the early 19th century by Leo von Klenze and is at the southern end of the Ludwigstraße, developed at the same time. The square is named for the former concert hall, ...
in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Modelled after the
Loggia dei Lanzi
The Loggia dei Lanzi, also called the Loggia della Signoria, is a building on a corner of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, adjoining the Uffizi Gallery. It consists of wide arches open to the street. The arches rest on clustered pi ...
in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
, it was commissioned in 1841 by King
Ludwig I of Bavaria to honour the tradition of the
Bavarian Army
The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (''Wehrhoheit'') of Bavaria into that of ...
.
In 1923, it was the site of the brief battle that ended Hitler's
Beer Hall Putsch. During the Nazi era, it served as a monument commemorating the death of 16 members of the Nazi party.
Structure
![Feldherrenhalle 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Feldherrenhalle_2.jpg)
The Feldherrnhalle was built between 1841 and 1844 at the southern end of Munich's
Ludwigstrasse next to the
Palais Preysing and east of the
Hofgarten. Previously, the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
''Schwabinger Tor'' (gate) occupied that place.
Friedrich von Gärtner
Friedrich von Gärtner (10 December 1791 in Koblenz – 21 April 1847 in Munich) was a German architect.
Biography
His father was also an architect, and moved in 1804 to Munich, where young Gärtner received his first education in archite ...
built the Feldherrnhalle at the behest of King
Ludwig I of Bavaria
en, Louis Charles Augustus
, image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825
, succession=King of Bavaria
, reign =
, coronation ...
after the example of the
Loggia dei Lanzi
The Loggia dei Lanzi, also called the Loggia della Signoria, is a building on a corner of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, adjoining the Uffizi Gallery. It consists of wide arches open to the street. The arches rest on clustered pi ...
in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
.
The Feldherrnhalle was a symbol of the honours of the Bavarian Army, represented by statues of two military leaders
Johann Tilly and
Karl Philipp von Wrede Karl may refer to:
People
* Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne
* Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer
* Karl of Austria, last Austri ...
. The first led Bavarians in the
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
; the second led the fight against Napoleon.
[Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, ''Architecture, Monuments, and the Legacy of the Third Reich'', University of California Press, April 2000, pp.110-20.] The statues were created by
Ludwig Schwanthaler
Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler, later ennobled as Ritter von Schwanthaler (26 August 1802 – 14 November 1848), was a German sculptor who taught at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich.
Biography
Schwanthaler was born in Munich.
His family had been ...
.
[Joanna Egert-Romanowskiej et al, ''DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Germany: Germany'', p.218.]
Right from the start, some Munich folk used to (and still do) ridicule the two persons honoured in the "Bayerische Feldherrnhalle" (lit. 'Bavarian Hall of Field Commanders / Field Marshals') in reference to the descendance of Tilly and the military strategic capabilities of Wrede:
"The one / first was" indeed "never anything like a Bavarian and the second / other" imputedly "never anything like a Feldherr".
It is a citation from
Lion Feuchtwanger
Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht.
Feuchtwanger's J ...
's novel '.
A sculptural group by
Ferdinand von Miller
Ferdinand von Miller (18 October 1813 – 11 February 1887) was a German artisan who is noted for his furtherance of bronze founding.
Biography
Von Miller was born in Fürstenfeldbruck.
After a sojourn at the academy in Munich and a preliminar ...
was added to the centre of the monument in 1892, after the
Franco-Prussian War, representing the victory over the French and the unification of Germany. The lions are a work of
Wilhelm von Rümann
Wilhelm von Rümann (11 November 1850 in Hanover – 6 February 1906 in Ajaccio) was a prominent German sculptor, based in Munich.
Life
Rümann was born in Hanover. He studied from 1872 to 1874 at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (''Akademie ...
, added in 1906 in imitation of the
Medici lions
The Medici lions are a pair of marble sculptures of lions: one of which is Roman, dating to the 2nd century AD, and the other a 16th-century pendant. Both were by 1598 placed at the Villa Medici, Rome. Since 1789 they have been displayed at th ...
of the Loggia dei Lanzi.
Site of the Beer Hall Putsch
The Feldherrnhalle was the scene of a confrontation on Friday morning, 9 November 1923, between the
Bavarian State Police
The Bavarian State Police (german: Bayerische Staatliche Polizei) is the state police force of the German state of Bavaria under the umbrella of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. It has approximately 33,500 armed officers and roughly 8,500 o ...
and the followers of
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
in which the Nazi party attempted to storm the Bavarian Defense Ministry. This was the culmination of the Nazis' failed coup attempt to take over the Bavarian State, commonly referred to as the ''
Beer Hall Putsch''. In the ensuing gun battle, four policemen and fourteen marchers were killed, plus two more NSDAP members elsewhere in Munich for a total of sixteen. Many more were wounded, including
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
. As a result of the failure of the so-called
Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler was arrested and sentenced to a prison term.
Nazi memorial
![Feldherrnhalle, Mahnmal, 1933](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Feldherrnhalle%2C_Mahnmal%2C_1933.jpg)
After the Nazis took power in 1933, Hitler turned the Feldherrnhalle into a memorial to the Nazis killed during the failed putsch. A memorial to the fallen SA men was put up on its east side, opposite the location of the shootings. This monument, called the ''Mahnmal der Bewegung''
was created to a design by
Paul Ludwig Troost
Paul Ludwig Troost (17 August 1878 – 21 January 1934) was a German architect. A favourite master builder of Adolf Hitler from 1930, his Neoclassical designs for the ''Führerbau'' and the ''Haus der Kunst'' in Munich influenced the style of N ...
. It was a rectangular structure listing the names of the martyrs.
[ This was under perpetual ceremonial guard by the SS. The square in front of the Feldherrnhalle (the ]Odeonsplatz
The Odeonsplatz is a large square in central Munich which was developed in the early 19th century by Leo von Klenze and is at the southern end of the Ludwigstraße, developed at the same time. The square is named for the former concert hall, ...
) was used for SS parades and commemorative rallies. During some of these events the sixteen dead were each commemorated by a temporary pillar placed in the Feldherrnhalle topped by a flame. New SS recruits took their oath of loyalty to Hitler in front of the memorial. Passers-by were expected to hail the site with the Nazi salute
The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute (german: link=no, Hitlergruß, , Hitler greeting, ; also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', ), or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. Th ...
.
Consequently, some people tried to avoid this. The structure's backside was (and still is) occupied by a rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
palace, the Palais Preysing, in front of which runs a lane, the " Viscardigasse". This little detour helped to bypass the hall, subsequently earning it the nickname "Drückebergergasse" (lit. 'shirker's lane').[
]
Post war
At the end of the war the Feldherrnhalle was restored to its pre-Nazi appearance. Local people spontaneously smashed the ''Mahnmal der Bewegung'' to pieces on 3 June 1945.[ In the 1950s a plan to move Bavaria's memorial to the unknown soldier to the Feldherrnhalle was halted on the grounds that it could provide an excuse for neo-Nazis to meet at the site.][
On 25 April 1995, Reinhold Elstner, a World War II veteran, committed ]self-immolation
The term self-immolation broadly refers to acts of altruistic suicide, otherwise the giving up of one's body in an act of sacrifice. However, it most often refers specifically to autocremation, the act of sacrificing oneself by setting oneself ...
in front of Feldhernhalle to protest against "the ongoing official slander and demonization of the German people and German soldiers". Each year neo-fascist groups from various European countries try to hold a commemorative ceremony for him, which Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n authorities try to prevent through state and federal courts.[p6 Court order 2005](_blank)
in German.
See also
* Panzerkorps ''Feldherrnhalle''
* Panzergrenadier-Division Feldherrnhalle
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
His ...
* Blood Order
The Blood Order (german: Blutorden), officially known as the "Decoration in Memory (of the Munich putsch) of 9 November 1923" (), was one of the most prestigious decorations in the Nazi Party (NSDAP). During March 1934, Hitler authorized the Bl ...
medal
References
3D computer model
{{Authority control
Infrastructure completed in 1844
1840s architecture
1923 in Germany
Buildings and structures in Munich
Historicist architecture in Munich
Tourist attractions in Munich
Beer Hall Putsch
Loggias