During Manfred von Richthofen’s last visit to Swidnica, which although not his birthplace was his little homeland, the town authorities honoured him with a flower basket, which included a small oak tree. Manfred’s will was for this tree to be planted in a park. As the very tree did not grow very well, a bigger oak tree was planted in spring, 1918 on the outskirts of today’s Sikorski Park.
Later on, a single stone was put next to the oak. The stone lies neglected in the park (it is not in its original place.) In 1924, when the Garrison Monument (it was situated next to Walowa Street, where his ruins remain to this day as well as the well-preserved fountain) was built near the Scheder fountain, the modest memorial stone became rather dazed. It was as soon as in 1927 that one for the local papers called for a better location for the stone. American pilots visiting Swidnica could not find the stone. This started the idea of building a dignified memorial on the tenth anniversary of Richthofen’s tragic death.
It was on the initiative of the German Pilot and Aviation Supporting Association of Swidnica, with Engineer Becker a chairman. The monument was supposed to be unlike any other in Swidnica, a sort of Thingstatte (the place where ancient Germans had their popular assemblies) under the symbolic German oak tree. The monument was planned to stand in possibly closest vicinity of the place of the memorial stone and the Richthofen family house.
The town council allotted a free spot in Sikorski Park, near the monument of max Heinzl (the monument of this local poet was destroyed after 1945).
The whole plan of that spot was made by a famous garden designer Karge in cooperation with an architect Fritz Zimmermann. The monument was the work of Glueck&Schulz, while the building materials came from ¦l±skie Kamieniołomy granitowe S.A. Kramer & Co
(Kramer & Co - Silesian Granite Quarries Public Company) from Jawor. A sculptor named Schulz from Wroclaw made the memorial plaque and the hero pilot portrat on it. Quoting a fragment from a description of the time (dating back to 1928), “While entering the memorial spot, one shall see “The Courtyard of Glory” with oak tree in the centre. The tree was planted last winter when the ground was rightly frozen. The courtyard entrance is outflanked by two massive blocks, which direct and guide to the lower level, two steps down. The sensation of great space was due to an 80 cm wall made from broken stones. Right in front of the wall there is a one-meter flowerbed planted with junipers and periwinkles. The surface of The Courtyard of Glory is tiled with granite plates in order to create an organic relationship between the surface and the appurtenances. The stone benches seem to invite the visitors.
The elevated podium exposes the picturesque view onto the ornamental green square in front of the monument. On the way out from the courtyard, one goes down the steps, straight to the six-meter wide main terrace. The memorial with its dedicatory memorial plaque makes a strong impression. The four cube-shaped posts over two-meter high overflanking the access routes mark the character of the place. Every stone detail is joined with mortar.
The inner cracks are filled with soil for the rock plants and moss to grow. The described monument has two paths surrounded by low walls, which once more complement its inside. The natural differences in the lay of the land were considered while building the monument. The plants are a decoration of its own. Massive rhododendrons surround the spot. Lavish use of climbers and rock plants growing out of the stonewalls and rooted in small wall cracks put life into the lifeless stone completing the original goal of representing not death but life.”
That is from a press description dating back to 1928. Although the unveiling of the monument was originally planned for April 21 (on Richthofen’s death anniversary), it was not until the end of August that the celebration took place. Beautiful weather made the event complete. All paths to the Sikorski Park were crowded since early morning hours. On the courtyard of the monument was crowded with members of various organizations, colour parties, Reichswehra campaign of honour, local worthies in their best clothes as well as many guests of honour and a large audience. The members of the University Aviation Association from Wroclaw and Halle marched before the monument.
Reichswehra campaign of honour took place at the other end of the main square, just before the Heinzl monument. Representatives of different organizations and associations, officials from all sorts of institutions, guests of honour together with many spectators filled up the completely rebuilt big square. Over 40 delegations, all with standard and banners, appeared accompanied by the sounds of march. The Reichswehra Orchestra under the baton of the senior bandmaster Schoeber opened the ceremony with funeral march of Bethoven’s symphony Eroica. Male choir of Swidnica Singers’ Association performed a song titled “I Found a Bright jewel.” Baron Captain von Boenigk, once a commander of a hunting regiment, made a speech in which he described and praised the life of the fallen hero, his simplicity and devotion as well as the whole of his personality to be set as an example for the future generations. After collective singing of the national anthem Manfred’s sister, Elisabeth von Reibnitz, accompanied by the melody of a song of a good colleague, unveiled the memorial plaque. The chairman of the Monument Association handed it over to the town authorities represented by the Deputy President, Dr. Peikert, who replaced the ill President Cassebaum. A wreath was thrown down from a red plane decorated with banners circling high above during the event.
Numerous wreaths were laid at the foot of the mausoleum. The closing music piece was the song “How the Oaks Climb up the Sky,” by Hans Heinrichs during his service at the front. Unfortunately, there are only ruins to remind us of the once popular monument. One of Swidnica citizens referred to it, “This monument shall be the place for concentration and memory of our hero pilot and of all those who died with him during the courageous fight over our holy values. Let the knobby branches of the oak, the symbol of German strength and power, mark this place as a symbol of reverence and dignified recognition of our ancestors.
The citizens of Swidnica, who lived here before the 1945, spread around the world. Many of them already died. Baron Manfred von Richthofen – The Red Baron – seems to be more famous among the English or Americans than it is is among the German masses. The third and the last place of Richthofen’s eternal rest is the cemetery in Weisbaden where he was buried with his mother in 1971. After 1945, all the items from the museum were scattered. There are no remains of the cemetery situated on the crossroads of the streets of Kolejowa, Walbrzyska and Armii Krajowej, where Albrecht and Lothar von Richthofen were buried. Today the place of their burial is a rather busy spot, with crowds of pedestrians unaware of this fact.
