Ehrenmal Buer, War memorial in Buer district, Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
The Ehrenmal Buer is an 18-metre-high memorial on the Buer hill near Berger See, built of 34,000 clinker bricks on a three-rayed ground plan whose northern arm points toward the street Zum Ehrenmal. Its wings end in three stylised brick imperial eagles, and two Iron Crosses flank each side. Below the tip facing the lake reads the inscription "Unseren gefallenen Helden".
The monument was established after World War I to honor local soldiers who died in the conflict. Its creation occurred during a period when Gelsenkirchen shifted from a mining-based economy to become a major industrial center.
The memorial's plaques carry 2,500 fire-gilded names of soldiers who fell in the war of 1870–71 and the First World War. Names of people shot or executed during the Ruhr occupation were added at the tips of the wings; the 1955 renovation by the Schützenverein removed the Ruhr occupation inscriptions and added the words "Die Opfer des Krieges mahnen zum Frieden".
The memorial stands on the Buerscher Berg above the Berger See, reached by the street "Zum Ehrenmal", whose northern walkway aligns with the structure's three-rayed ground plan. Terraces below the monument and viewpoints south of the lake form further sightlines onto it. The surrounding grounds of the Buerscher Grüngürtel are open and walkable.
The memorial's 2,500 fire-gilded names include soldiers killed in the war of 1870–71 and in World War I, and names of people shot or executed during the Ruhr occupation were added at the tips of the wings. The Ruhr occupation inscriptions were removed during a complete renovation in 1955.
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