Weeping youth

„A living memorial, a memorial that continues to appeal to you, could only emanate from the spiritual and mental situation of our academic youth after these two tremendous shocks. We had to capture this symbolically and put it before your eyes as a reminder and a call.“

~Prof. Dr. Eilender on 27.07.1953~
(in his speech on the occasion of the presentation of the statue)

With these words Prof. Dr. Eilender hands over the statue of the “weeping youth”, which today stands in the student village, to the student body of the RWTH on July 27, 1953.1 The Crying Youth Cenotaph is intended to commemorate the students who died in the two world wars, to remind students that their “comrades did not die in vain” 2 und and encourage us to shape the future.

„The youth is the future. They have it in their hands to reshape our fatherland and to integrate it into the larger framework in which alone the security and freedom of Europe is still guaranteed.“

~ Prof. Dr. Eilender on 27.07.1953~
(in his speech on the occasion of the presentation of the statue)

The idea of a memorial for the fallen of the two world wars appears for the first time in correspondence of the Minister of Culture of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from April 27, 1953. The Minister of Culture was Mrs. Christine Teusch from 1947 to 1955.3 In fact, she is the first female minister in the Federal Republic of Germany.4 She writes to the rector of the RWTH and asks him for an Opinion on the idea of a memorial and how expensive it would be.5 The University of Bonn also gets the opportunity to erect such a memorial.

From the commemorative publication for the 40th anniversary of the student village it can be seen that an amount of 25,000 DM is to be budgeted for the honorary cenotaph. For reasons that can no longer be reconstructed today, the cooperation between the Minister of Education and the RWTH is no longer necessary. On July 27, 1953, the ASTA invites the students to a “ceremony”. In this ceremony, Prof. Dr. Eilender hands over the statue of the weeping youth to the student body as his foundation.

The statue was created by the sculptor Theo Akkermann from Krefeld and first found its place in the boardroom of the Student Aid. In the 1960s, it was moved to the foyer of the Student Union and stood there until it was handed over to the Student Village by the Managing Director of the Student Union, Johannes Redding, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Student Village in 1972. 6

There now stands the young man for almost fifty years. The young man was not marked for a long time and so several myths entwine around him especially in the student village. Most students are not aware of its purpose and the sources about it are limited.

„The youth with the longing look in the direction of house G, the former women's house of the student village, would have been donated by a grateful husband who had met his future wife in the village. Therefore, the figure would also bear the name "The Adorer".“

~ Dr. Katharina Koop~
("The Worshipper's Story" in the commemorative publication for the 40th anniversary of the Student Village).

More information we have not been able to find about this statue. Whether the statue was also built in Bonn is not known. A monument of this kind was not uncommon/uncommon at that time. In Aachen, however, it has been forgotten. It has no place in the commemorative culture of the university due to the little information that is known only about it. Quite the opposite is true of the memorial to the fallen students, which is located in front of Aula 1 in the main building of the RWTH. About this one there were big protests in the student body in the 90s, so it is astonishing that the young man did not get as much attention. Precisely because the plaques in the main building have received such attention, one should consider whether to include this memorial in the culture of remembrance and if so in what way. A pitch without background information is certainly not a good alternative.

(mb) 27.6.2022

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Verweise:

1 Prof. Dr. Eilender, “Address on the Occasion of the Presentation of the Cenotaph for the Students of Aachen Technical University who Fell in the Two World Wars.” Page.1
2 Eilender Page.6
3 Ministry of Education NRW, “A Women’s Profile in Education Policy: Dr. h.c.. Christine Teusch”
4 In the further course, the personal pronoun “she” and the title “Minister of Culture” will therefore be used.
5 The Minister of Culture of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, letter to the Rector of RWTH Aachen University on April 27, 1953.
6 Katharina „The story of the worshipper” in the commemorative publication for the 40th anniversary of the student village Page.9