Unknown Prisoner - Dachau, Germany
N 48° 16.281 E 011° 27.922
32U E 682932 N 5349398
To Honor the Dead, to Warn the Living.
Waymark Code: WM43DB
Location: Bayern, Germany
Date Posted: 07/01/2008
Views: 69
The German language has several words that refer to memorial sites. Their meanings elucidate the relationship between the site itself and the visitor. For instance, gedachtnis is a root word in the names of many memorials. The Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche, a war memorial in Berlin, is a good example. In English, the word gedachtnis simply means "memory." Like the English word "memorial," it encourages the visitor to participate in the memory of an event. The words denkmal and gedenkstatte contain the verb denken, to think. They encourage the visitor to reflect. Finally, the word mahnmal contains in it the root mahnen. This means "to warn," "to admonish," or "to caution." It suggests an imperative to take action and implies negative consequences if this does not occur. For instance, ein mahnbriefis a dunning letter that sets forth the action to be taken by the recipient and the negative consequences if no action is taken. Mahnmal entreats an individual to remember, reflect, and respond to the experience of visiting a memorial. The explicit nature of the memorial at Dachau as a mahnmal appears carved on the base of a statue by the artist Fritz Koelle. Below the statue of a prisoner are carved the words, "Den Toten zur Ehr,, den Lebenden zur Mahnung" [To Honor the Dead, to Warn the Living].
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