Many memorials remind us of the eventful history of the wars. Hilmar schenk and community archivist gerhard thein have researched the history of the knetzgau war memorial and recorded their findings in a brochure.
Johann ruttinger (96) and otto mergenthaler (90), two former participants in the world war from knetzgau, were also present at the presentation of the new brochure in the town hall. Otto mergenthaler can still remember his military service, which took him as a 17-year-old to labor service in lower silesia at the end of 1943 and then to the armed forces as a radio operator in denmark. Here he experienced the end of the war and was then sent to an english camp in schleswig holstein. In 1945, he arrived home on the good train with a rough group of war returnees from lower franconia by jumping off the train in habfurt. Since the bridges in habfurt and zeil had been destroyed, he crept fearfully along the main and, with the help of friends, crossed by boat from habfurt to the shore in knetzgau.
The brochure is dedicated to the more than 170 burghers from knetzgau who did not survive the first and second world wars and to the victims of the 1870/71 campaign. They are the focus of the 64-page booklet. The aim of hilmar schenk and gerhard thein is to pass on information to posterity and to encourage reflection.
The fallen of the first world war are almost forgotten. According to the brochure they are called "a lost generation" designated. The "inferno in europe, how the second world war is called is just as terrible. In painstaking work, data, references and information about the fallen and missing were collected and written down.
The war memorial in knetzgau was built in 1924 after the inflation and extended in 1956. The restoration of the memorial began in 2016 and was completed with the opening in the fall of 2017.
The press reports and official documents from the years 1924 and 1956 listed in the brochure are contemporary witnesses. The authors wanted to ensure that more than just the names on the plaques on the war memorial would be preserved for posterity.
For mayor stefan paulus the history of the war memorial and the victims of the world wars are a part of the knetzgau village history.