Dedication of the Tannenberg Memorial

In Hohenstein, East Prussia, the Tannenberg Memorial is dedicated on 18 September 1927. It commemorates the First World War Battle of Tannenberg. Ca. 70,000 people attend the ceremony, among them adherents of a number of ultra-right militaristic organisations.

© Waluk The memorial near Tannenberg

Above all, the event is intended to honour Reich President Paul von Hindenburg. As supreme commander of the 8th Army in August 1914, he succeeded in bringing about a decisive victory against Russia’s 2nd Army. In his address the Reich President disputed any German guilt for the War and asserted: „Not envy, hatred or desire for conquest put weapons in our hands. In fact, for us the War was the most extreme means of self-assertion against a world of enemies.“