View of the Ehrenmal and pond in Wittringer Wald

From here you have a nice view of the memorial and the pond in front of it.

The view of the pond from the memorial is at least as beautiful 😉

A memorial to two wars that set the whole world on fire in the last century and claimed countless lives... Many people today cannot or do not want to remember it...
But just look around in today's world and then ask yourself: HAVE WE LEARNED SOMETHING FROM HISTORY? 😔💐 "... German soldiers with Polish names
In the 1920s, a local recreation area within walking distance was created in the Wittringer Forest for workers and their families, about a third of whom were Poles. In addition to the museum, stadium and outdoor pool, a memorial was to commemorate those who died in the war. The foundation stone was not laid until 1933 - probably due to the global economic crisis - and the memorial was inaugurated on June 17, 1934. It was designed according to plans by the architect Brüren on a slightly raised square. On a circular floor plan with a diameter of around 65 meters, a seven-meter-high arcade with 16 pointed arch openings rises. On the inside of the arcade it was originally written: "In honor of the dead of the war. As a call for generations of victory." Since 1945, the inscription "1914-1918. In honor of the dead of the wars. 1939–1945«.
Most of the name plaques on the Wittringer memorial are weathered and the names are illegible. However, they were published in the Gladbecker Blätter during the First World War in four »Honor Plaques of Fallen Heroes«. According to these, a total of 1,430 Gladbeck residents died as soldiers on the various fronts of the First World War, 30 percent of them were of Polish origin.
In 1987, a stainless steel stele was placed next to the memorial in memory of all victims of war and dictatorship. In 1999, a memorial for deserters was added. This gave the memorial a new character; it is now part of an ensemble that symbolizes the changing political culture of remembrance in our society. ..." lwl.org Fremde-impulse-download/start/LWL/Kultur/ Fremde-impulse/die_baudenkmale/Impuls-Ehrengrabmaeler/Ehrenmal-Stadtpark-Wittringen.html