RIHA Journal 0171 | 27 June 2017 Heroes between Materiality and Myth. The Memorial Grove1 for the Danish Resistance as Performative Site Rasmus K !rboe Abstract The most signifcant Danish warrior burial is arguably the emorial !rove in Ryvangen #or members o# the Danish resistance movement $uring %orl$ %ar II& This article 'laces the memorial within Danish history an$ the rece'tion o# %%II an$ argues #or its 'articular (ualities as a mo$ernist re)wor*ing o# a $iscre$ite$ monumental tra$ition with a 'articular #ocus on 'lain materials an$ a low architectural scale& The memorial a+or$s a heightene$ sense o# materiality an$ nature as a 'ractical exam'le o# a 'hiloso'hy o# 'resence& The 'ar*)li*e memorial can also be seen as a 'er#ormative groun$ #or instilling as'ects o# i$entity an$ collective memory #or both in$ivi$uals an$ Danish society& -uture uses o# the site can either go in the $irection o# recreation or towar$ immersive e$ucation& #ontents Intro$ucing Danish memorials an$ war graves emorialising W%II in Denmar* How the Memorial Grove at Ryvangen came to be .onsi$ering the design o# the Memorial Grove yth an$ authenticity in mo$ernity /etween discourse an$ e,'erience ateriality an$ presence A part)conclusion: Per#orming memory 1ostscri't0 Uncertain futures Intro$ucing Danish memorials an$ war graves 314 5eemingly, the frst 'o'ular initiative to erect a Danish monument to commemorate an arme$ con7ict came a#ter the battle o# .o'enhagen (1801:6 a narrow $e#eat in a large na"al con#rontation between /ritish an$ Danish) ;orwegian #orces aroun$ the harbour o# the city& -ollowing the 'lans o# the engraver !& <& <ah$e (1765-1833) an$ the neo)classicist scul'tor Johannes %ie$ewelt (1731)1802), a subscri'tion le$ to the erection o# a small hill 1 A more o@cial yet less 'recise translation is "The emorial 1ar*A& RIHA Journal 0171 | 27 June 2017 reminiscent o# ;eolithic an$ Bi*ing)age burials on to' o# a share$ mass grave #or both naval o@cers6 seamen an$ citiCen)volunteers (Fig. 1). 1 The emorial Hill #or 2 A'ril 19016 Holmens Dir*egEr$ 8'hotogra'h0 %ikime$ia .ommons, license ..0 1&0: The monument was to''e$ by an obelis* an$ a memorial 'la(ue bor$ere$ by rough)hewn stones6 an$ the area was 'lante$ with oa* an$ other symbolic greenery&2 Thus a #usion o# classical an$ ;or$ic iconogra'hy was intro$uce$ within a lan$sca'e setting F themes which woul$ assert themsel"es in later war memorials. 324 A very signifcant monument resulte$ #rom the -irst 5chleswig war (1848) 1851); an in$ecisive struggle to $etermine the status o# the !erman $uchies belonging to the *ing$om& The Danish scul'tor H& %& /issen’s (1798-1868) statue o# Den ta're <an$sol$at 8Athe brave conscri'tA: celebrating 'eace an$ victory by hol$ing u' a beech branch was 'lace$ in -re$ericia in 1858 an$ is 'resumably the frst mo$ern monument e,clusi"ely $e'icting an$ $e$icate$ to the common sol$ier (Fig. 2).? 2 1er %essel)Tol"ig6 in$ehKLen #or 2& a'ril 19016 DKbenha"n 2000& ? 2lla M"ortru' an$ An$ers Nngelbrecht6 Den ta're lan$sol$at6 -re$ericia 19>9-20090 Det #Krste monument o"er $en u*en$te sol$at6 -re$ericia 2009& RIHA Journal 0171 | 27 June 2017 2 H& %& /issen6 Den ta're lan$sol$at6 erecte$ 19>96 c. ?&7> m6 -re$ericia 8'hotogra'h O Billy -ink Isaksen6 %ikime$ia .ommons, license .. /P)5A G&0: 3?4 The monument 'oints innovati"ely #orwar$ to the #uture tra$ition o# using broa$ synec$oche in celebrating an$ mourning the enliste$ commoner through statuary an$ cenota'hs #or the 2n*nown 5ol$ier& Qnce again6 the 'roLect was secure$ by po'ular subscri'tion, but naturally no similar initiative was at the time allowe$ #or the !erman nationalists o# 5chleswig6 Holstein an$ <auenburg6 who ha$ nominally lost the war& 5tylistically, /issen normally wor*e$ in the neo) classical i$iom o# his teacher6 Bertel Thorval$sen (1770-1844), visible in the facial #eatures6 but chose a more naturalistic an$ contem'orary style o# $ress #or the fgure& Initial 'ro'osals #or a to'ic #rom ;or$ic myth an$ legen$ary history were reLecte$ by the committee6 re7ecting how an alternati"e iconogra'hy o# classicist bo$ies in ;orse garb never #oun$ broa$ a''eal6 $es'ite being 'romote$ by 'rominent peo'le&G 3G4 Denmar* as a nation sat out %%I6 but thousan$s o# Danes $i$ 'artici'ate F either as $ra#tees $ue to their resi$ence in lan$s now 'art o# the !erman Nm'ire6 as volunteers #or either si$e6 or as sailors 'artici'ating in ostensibly neutral commerce& Due to these historical circumstances6 no unife$ Danish tem'late #or sol$ier burials was $evelo'e$ as it was #or most o# the warring nations& A number o# Danish s'ea*ers an$ nationals are burie$ in !erman war cemeteries6 mainly aroun$ the #ormer western #ront6 while those who $ie$ $ue to !erman mines an$ 2)boats were burie$ locally to the extent in which their bo$ies coul$ be recovere$& G <ars Qlo# <arsson6 ARber $en schwierigen 2mgang mit $en nor$ischen !StternA6 in0 ichael Tller)%ille an$ <ars Qlo# <arsson6 e$s.6 Tiere6 enschen6 !Stter0 %ikingerCeitliche Dunststile 2n$ Ihre ;euCeitliche ReCe'tion6 !Sttingen 20016 J)?9& RIHA Journal 0171 | 27 June 2017 3>4 %hile thousan$s o# sol$iers #rom both si$es #oun$ a fnal resting 'lace in Denmar*6 society as such #elt little nee$ to $iscuss war monuments an$ sol$ier’s burials or to #ormulate any coherent i$eas on the to'ic& 1reviously, #allen sol$iers #rom the two 5chleswig wars ha$ to some extent been commemorate$ collecti"ely as they were re)burie$ in larger graves in ci"ilian cemeteries6 an$ various local initiatives set u' mar*ers an$ 'la(ues& <ater on6 a nee$ to coor$inate the care #or these $ivergent monuments an$ graves was #elt to be a 'ublic tas*6 es'ecially a#ter the loss o# the !erman $uchies in the 5econ$ 5chleswig %ar in 1864, an$ #rom 1883 a %ar !raves .ommissioner was a''ointe$&> 3=4 Two maLor monuments in Denmar* $o commemorate the %%I #rom the e,'licit 'ers'ecti"e o# 'artici'ation an$ $eath& The frst is the more sol$ierly monument (1934) in the emorial 1ar* in Aarhus6 Jutlan$ by scul'tor A,el 1oulsen 81887-1972) an$ architect A,el N*berg 81882-1935). Insi$e a large limestone enclosure with the names o# more than 4,000 casualties6 #our monumental relie#s F arching Qut6 %ar6 1eace6 an$ Homecoming F memorialise the ambivalent 'artici'ation in the war6 which inclu$e$ both war 'arties& As'ects o# glorifcation are $own'laye$ an$ themes o# $ivision6 loss6 an$ reunifcation are 'ut centre stage& 374 The other monument is The 5ailorIs onument (1928) by scul'tor 5"en$ Rathsac* (1885-1941) an$ architect I"ar /entsen (1876-1943) in .o'enhagen harbour& Qn an overlarge triangular 'e$iment6 which mimics a shi' stern F an$ allu$es to the winge$ Bictory o# 5amothrace F a bronCe angel loo*s to sea& <imestone relie#s on the si$es o# the structure show seamen on an e,'lo$ing (sailing) vessel an$ others coming to rescue&= 394 Interestingly, both %%I monuments are *e't in a restraine$ mo$ernist classicism so 'o'ular in the inter)war 'erio$ in both Nuro'e an$ the 2nite$ 5tates&7 The i$iom carrie$ signifcant connotations o# both classical an$ mo$ern art& As a style6 it can be e(ually seen as a res'onse to the u'heavals #ollowing the worl$ war an$ the resultant art worl$ ra''el U lVor$re69 an$ as an in#orme$ artistic 'lay with styles both ancient an$ mo$ern&J 1rogrammatically, the > Inge A$riansen6 Nrin$ringsste$er i Danmar*0 onumenter6 min$esmWr*er og mK$este$er6 DKbenha"n 20106 10?& = The monument was restore$ an$ the relie#s recreate$ in 2011 in tra"ertine& .amilla 5tockmann6 A!enskabt monument mK$er hEr$ kriti*A6 in0 1oliti*en 320 ;o"ember 201146 htt'0XX'oliti*en&$*X*ulturX*unstXart>0?>299X!enskabt)historisk-monument-mY.?Y/9$er)h Y.?%A>r$-kritik (accesse$ 11 ay 2017:& 7 5ee NliCabeth .owling an$ Jenni#er un$y6 e$s.6 Qn .lassic !roun$0 1icasso6 <eger6 De .hirico an$ the ;ew .lassicism 1J10-1J?06 e,h& cat&6 <on$on 1JJ0& 9 5ee Romy !olan6 o$ernity an$ ;ostalgia0 Art an$ 1olitics in -rance between the %ars6 ;ew Ha"en6 .T 1JJ>& J 5ee !ott#rie$ /oehm6 "An Alternati"e o$ern0 Qn the .once't an$ /asis o# the N,hibitionA6 in0 !ott#rie$ /oehm6 2lrich osch an$ Datharina 5chmi$t6 e$s.6 .anto D’amore0 .lassicism in o$ern Art an$ usic 1J1G-1J?>6 e,h& cat&6 <on$on 1JJ=& RIHA Journal 0171 | 27 June 2017 mo$ernist classical style coul$ suit both 'rogressive an$ reactionary 'oliticsH it was either un$erstoo$ as u'hol$ing the classical within a mo$ern worl$6 or it was seen as a tem'ering o# the 'ast to the nee$s o# the 'resent&10 5ignifcantly, an$ as e,'resse$ in both %%I monuments6 the human6 mostly male bo$y was the main carrier o# meaningH both in its stylise$ anonymity an$ its stoic heroism& This style woul$ be ra$ically challenge$ with the next6 maLor memorial on Danish groun$& Memorialising %%II in Denmar* 3J4 Qnly #ollowing %%II6 where Denmar* was occu'ie$ by !ermany #rom 1940 to 1945, came the nee$ #or a 'rolonge$ $iscussion o# memory an$ memorials& The Danish military was largely 'assive $uring J A'ril 1940, when the country was occu'ie$, an$ only few casualties arose from this day an$ the s'ora$ic fghts that bro*e out aroun$ 29 August 1943, when the Danish government fnally resigne$& There is conse(uently no single burial groun$ or maLor memorial #or Danish sol$iers who lost their lives $uring the occu'ation6 an$ the local military memorials that do e,ist are few an$ relatively discrete& 3104 A consi$erable number o# monuments relate$ to %%II instea$ centre on the Danish resistance movement an$ to a lesser $egree on the civilian victims6 but most sim'ly re#er to the occu'ation an$ the liberation o# G)> ay 1945.