Mahnmal für die Opfer beider Weltkriege / Monument for the Victims of Both World Wars
Today, the landmarked Altstadtfriedhof in Mülheim is an expansive park with individually preserved gravestones. Gerhard Marcks’s Memorial for the Victims of Both World Wars serves as its northern boundary.
It consists of a walled courtyard with a sculpture in the center. Resting atop a low base, the artist has depicted a human figure that is almost entirely covered with a cloth. Only the feet, hands, and hairline are uncovered and visible. The way the cloth is draped clearly depicts the shape of the body beneath it.
It evokes associations with a dead soldier who has been temporarily covered with a sheet. This form of depiction makes it possible to create a completely anonymous human figure, representing all those who died in the world wars. It is a memorial that serves as a place of mourning for all of the dead, regardless of age and nation.
Gerhard Marcks
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Mülheim an der Ruhr, Altstadtfriedhof, Friedhofweg
