War memorials

During our bike rides through the farmland and small towns outside of Hannover, Brian and I started noticing war memorials. They are not big or shiny or located in prominent spots. There is, as far as I know, no big national memorial in Germany to commemorate WWI and WWII. The Germans were, after all, the losers. And they were the bad guys; that's what we were raised to believe. My impression is that Germans are raised with a degree of shame and regret for what happened here, but also a nostalgia for what was destroyed by the allies. The swastikas have been scratched away and painted over, the flag is only waved at football games, and no old veterans march in parades. There are, however, still some memorials tucked away in shady corners. We even saw one in Hamburg, half-hidden behind the gate of a sports stadium.

Small towns in the U.S. have similar memorials, carved with the names of local boys who died fighting. It's funny to think that Germans remember their neighbors and sons the same way, only they fought on the other side. So we started taking photos of war memorials. I say 'we' because this post is really Brian's idea and it's a good one (though I guess you can be the judge of that).

Brian decided to wear his Polska cycling outfit on the day when we took most of these pictures, so that he could stick it to the Germans on behalf of our friends the Poles.

Memorial in Harkenbleck

Memorial in Oerie

Memorial in Oerie

Memorial for the war with Prussia, in Elze

Memorial in Luedersen

This one has a little more symbolism than the rest - a lion who has been killed by a broken spear in its back. It shows pride in the strong nation that was stabbed from behind.

And here's a different sort of memorial, dedicated to the unknown deserter. It's right in middle of Hannover, in front of the Rathaus. Just recently someone painted "no more war" on it and left a pot of flowers.
It's a tribute to those who didn't want to fight, were scared to fight, didn't feel like it was right to fight, and left the helmet and combat boots behind.