Memorial to the fallen of the Fusilier Regiment von Gersdorff (Kurhessian No. 80) and its war units, built in 1930

The history of the Fusilier Regiment until 1919

The Hessian Elector Wilhelm II created the "Leib-Garde-Regiment" from two predecessor regiments in 1821. With the annexation of Electoral Hesse by Prussia in 1866, the regiment was transferred to the Prussian Army. On November 5, 1867, the "Fusilier Regiment No. 80" was formed from various Prussian infantry companies and troops from the Electorate of Hesse's "Leib-Garde Regiment". Fusiliers were a type of troop consisting of lightly armed and therefore mobile infantrymen.

Until the First World War, the regiment took part in the Franco-Prussian War (1870/71) and volunteers from the regiment took part in the suppression of uprisings in the German colonial territories in China (the so-called Boxer Uprising of 1899-1901) and in the former colony of German South-West Africa, now Namibia (the Herero and Nama Uprising of 1904-1908). In memory of the commanding general of the XI Army Corps Hermann von Gersdorff (1809-1870), who died in 1870, the regiment was given its nickname in 1889. The unit was finally renamed "Fusilier-Regiment 'von Gersdorff' (Kurhessisches Nr. 80)" by cabinet order in 1901.

The regiment's staff and first battalion were stationed in Wiesbaden from 1866 to 1914. Until the First World War, other parts of the regiment had temporary garrisons in Biebrich, Dietz, Weilburg, Hanau, Homburg v.d.H., Fulda, Marburg, Mainz and Fort Biehler.

During the First World War (1914-1918), units of the regiment fought both on the Western Front and on the Eastern Front. Regiment No. 80 was deployed in France, Belgium, Russia and Poland, among other places. After the armistice on November 11, 1918, the remnants of the regiment marched back to Germany. The regiment was demobilized and disbanded on 6 March 1919.

The history of the memorial

Soon after the end of the First World War, veterans of Regiment No. 80 campaigned for the memory of their fallen comrades. As early as 1920, an "Association of Former Officers and Medical Officers of the Fusilier Regiment v. Gersdorff" was founded in Berlin. In 1921, the first "regimental meeting" took place in Homburg v.d.H., at which the "Association of Former Eighties" was founded. Five years later, the association became the "80er Denkmalvereinigung", which began collecting money and support for the erection of a "memorial" for the association in Wiesbaden, the former main garrison location.

By 1929, memorial plaques and a monument in Kassel were unveiled in Homburg v.d.H. for the regiment's fallen. As early as 1928, the necessary funds were also available for another memorial in Wiesbaden. However, as the city was under Allied occupation, the memorial could not be erected at first. It was only when the British withdrew from Wiesbaden in 1930 that the way was clear for the "memorial" to be erected.

The foundation stone was laid on July 13, 1930. A design by architect Edmund Fabry (1892-1939) and sculptor Arnold Hensler (1891-1935) was realized. The city of Wiesbaden not only contributed to the construction of the "memorial" by providing a prestigious building site on the Neroberg free of charge, but also contributed financially.

With a three-day celebration from October 4 to 6, 1930, the "memorial" was finally dedicated after a short construction period. A military parade on Taunusstrasse, a concert, "comradeship evenings" and wreath-laying ceremony attracted not only state and municipal representatives but also a wide audience.

Staging of "heroic remembrance" under National Socialism and continuation of the veterans' tradition after 1945

When the National Socialists came to power, there was a profound change in the culture of remembrance in Germany. In 1934, the National Day of Mourning, which had been introduced in the Weimar Republic and was dedicated to the victims of the First World War, was rededicated as the so-called Heroes' Memorial Day. The commemoration of the dead was turned into a hero worship in line with Nazi ideology, in which the NSDAP and the Wehrmacht symbolically demonstrated their connection. This nationalistic reorientation of World War II commemoration was also reflected in Wiesbaden in the following years.

For example, the veterans' association of the former regiment organized a large "regimental reunion" in Wiesbaden in 1938. The Wehrmacht, which had been present in the city since the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936 with the newly established Infantry Regiment 87, provided a military setting for the celebrations. On January 1, 1939, the III Battalion of Infantry Regiment 87 in Wiesbaden officially took over the tradition of Fusilier Regiment No. 80.

Even after the Second World War, veterans of the original Fusilier Regiment and former members of Infantry Regiment 87 continued the veteran tradition. "Regimental reunions" were held around the regiment's foundation day until the 1990s. In the Nero Valley, another memorial stone commemorates the fallen of Infantry Regiment 87 in the Second World War.

Design and construction of the "Memorial to the fallen of the Fusilier Regiment von Gersdorff (Kurhessian No. 80) and its war units"

The war memorial was created by the architect and painter Edmund Fabry together with the sculptor Arnold Hensler. Hensler, born in Wiesbaden in 1891, and Fabry, born on Norderney in 1892, probably met in the Wiesbaden art scene during their student days. Fabry had moved to Wiesbaden with his family around 1900, where he initially worked as a painter and graphic artist and then set up an architectural practice. He completed one of his first commissions together with Arnold Hensler. Both were founding members of the Darmstadt Secession, were active in the Nassauischer Kunstverein and Fabry built a house and studio for the artist couple Hensler in Wiesbaden-Aukamm. The couple left their mark on Wiesbaden's cityscape with the design of the Reisinger grounds, among other things. In 1933, Hensler was appointed professor of sculptural design at the "Handwerker- und Kunstgewerbeschule - Trierer Werkschule für christliche Kunst". He died in 1935. Edmund Fabrys left his mark on Wiesbaden's cityscape with his designs for the Herbert-Anlagen and the Opelbad, among others, which were realized in 1933-1934 and 1937. After the November pogroms in 1938, Fabry was forced to close his architectural practice as a so-called half-Jew. He died in Wiesbaden in 1939.

By 1930, Arnold Hensler had already designed several monuments to the First World War, including the one at the Dotzheim cemetery. Some of the monuments had been created in collaboration with the architect Fabry and had won design competitions. Due to their successful work, Hensler and Fabry were hired by the 80er Denkmalvereinigung to design a memorial that commemorates the fallen regimental comrades and tells of the war. The war memorial on the Neroberg dispenses with mythological depictions and displays a realism that was unusual for Hensler. The ensemble consists of a large porphyry block, reminiscent of a sarcophagus, and 8 memorial stones. The years 1914 Ⅰ 1915 Ⅰ 1916 Ⅰ 1917 Ⅰ 1918 are depicted in the base of the large block on both long sides. On one long side, Hensler shows marching soldiers with their rifles shouldered. On the opposite side, two fallen soldiers behind a standing cross and the inscription "15680 KAMERADEN KEHRTEN NICHT ZURÜCK". On the narrow sides are the Iron Cross and, opposite, the dedication "DEN TOTEN HELDEN [VFI] FÜSILIER-REGIMENT VON GERSDORFF (KURHESS) No. 80 UND SEINE KRIEGSTRUPPENTEILE".

The entire complex, designed by Edmund Fabry, comprises a terrace with the large porphyry block and a staircase, along which the eight memorial stones for the war formations are placed on the left and right. The ensemble is surrounded by oak trees. The oak leaves are used as a national symbol and are still used today as a badge of achievement. Each memorial stone names the battles in which the units fought, as well as the number of their casualties.

From top left to bottom right:

Fusilier Regiment von Gersdorff (Kurhessisches) No. 80
Bertix, Neufchateau, Meuse, Marne, Reims, Roye, Verdin, Chemin des Dames, Somme, Aisne, Champagne, Postawy, Avre, Flanders
Fallen:
69 officers
264 non-commissioned officers
2377 enlisted men

Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 80
Neufchateau, Meuse, Marne, Champagne, Verdun, Aisne, Champagne, Cambrai, Great Battle of France, Croisilles
Fallen:
81 officers
303 non-commissioned officers
2538 enlisted men

Infantry Regiment No. 353
Iwangorod, Bzura-Rawka, Kowno, Njemen, Wilna, Dünaburg, Great Battle of France, Marne
Fallen:
45 officers
123 non-commissioned officers
1191 enlisted men

Infantry Regiment No. 365
Regnieville, Priesterwald, Somme, Flanders, Artois, Baltic Islands, Lorraine
Fallen:
11 officers
58 non-commissioned officers
413 enlisted men

Infantry Regiment No. 186
La Bassee, Champagne, Somme, Aisne, Arras, Verdun, Kemmel, Flanders
Fallen:
66 officers
198 non-commissioned officers
1513 enlisted men

Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 253
Masuria, Nyemen, Kovno, Vilnius, Duna, Romania, Great Battle of France, Soissons
Fallen:
41 officers
182 non-commissioned officers
2005 enlisted men

Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 223
Lilie, Pabianice, Lodz, Czyrak, Zydaczow, Tranopoi, Zalosze, Verdun, Armentieres
Fallen:
65 officers
325 non-commissioned officers
3426 enlisted men

Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 80
Nancy-Epinal, Tete de Behouille, Col du Bonhomme, Malfille, Bois de la Garde, Sennones, Ban de Sapt, Bernhardstein, Violu
Fallen:
11 officers
40 non-commissioned officers
335 enlisted men