Ulanendenkmal, War memorial and sculpture in Demmin, Germany.
The Ulanendenkmal is a war memorial and sculpture in Demmin crafted from stone featuring carved representations of soldiers. The monument displays several inscriptions and artistic details that convey the historical importance of the cavalry unit it honors.
Veterans of the 2nd Pomeranian Uhlan Regiment No. 9, garrisoned in Demmin from 1860 until the unit was disbanded in 1919/20, funded the memorial through donations and commissioned it in 1923–24. The Berlin sculptor Fritz Richter-Elsner built it from granite boulders taken from nearby megalithic tombs, one at Quitzerow being dismantled entirely. It was inaugurated on 3 August 1924, the tenth anniversary of the regiment's departure for the front. In 1946 the Red Army ordered the equestrian statue destroyed and buried and the stone inscriptions permanently defaced.
The memorial displays inscriptions with names and dates of soldiers, reflecting the town's connection to a specific military unit. Visitors can see how the community has maintained awareness of this period through the monument's presence.
The memorial stands on a slope at the western edge of the Sandbergtannen forest in eastern Demmin, near the railway station, not in the town centre. A stairway of rough stone blocks leads up through a gate arch partly flanked by boulders. The metal name plates were removed and stored, and all stone inscriptions were destroyed in 1946, so nothing is readable today.
The granite blocks are not quarried stone but boulders taken from nearby megalithic tombs; one Großsteingrab near Quitzerow was dismantled entirely for the memorial. A heavy rusty iron chain once lay across the threshold, which is why old postcards call it the Kettentor. In 1935 the chain was broken and hung up at the sides of the entrance.
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