The domed building – a bavarian pantheon (2)
(10) "Dead Soldier" (Bernhard Bleeker) *
The depiction of death or rather the Last Judgement is accessible to all on the Royal Garden (Hofgarten) side to the west of the building, the sunset side. It was only in 1924 that a vault-like crypt was built there to plans of the architects Wechs and Finsterwalder and the sculptor Karl Knappe in which the „Dead Soldier" is located in form of a recumbent figure by Bernard Bleeker which was originally created for the domed hall of the Army Museum.	In the sunken courtyard around this memorial, we encounter once more the early Christian number symbolism inscribed on the stone. Karl Knappe created the impressive relief of the twelve holy crusaders on small burial mounds.
	(11) 12 holy crusaders on small burial mounds (Karl Knappe) *
Twelve brownish Cannstadt travertine blocks on which there is a symbolic coping stone (megalithic grave type) round off the whole scene. The sunken level of the war memorial greatly diminishes the massiveness of its monoliths.	Only when the visitor goes down the steps can he gain a full impression of the sheer solidity and massive size of the central memorial.

(12) Restored Munich war memorial *	(13) On the pillar-like supports of the monoliths are deeply engraved figures of guards with raised hands and drawn swords who watch over the memorial to the dead. (Finsterwalder, 1935) *

(13/2) Memorial stone created by Prof. Leo Kornbrust (1996) Cube with hand-written text as a contrast to the whole architectural ensemble. The text seen here (Royal Garden side) originates from the leaflets of the „White Rose„ resistance movement of 1943. *

(*: Please click on the picture to enlarge! )

the domed building (1)	table of contents	the kingdom of bavaria