See also: Mavi Boncuk Article
The Story of Samsun Atatürk Honor Monument
Samsun Honor Monument, the symbol of Samsun and our War of Independence, January 15, 1932
was opened on. Here is the story of the construction and opening of that monument…
The people of Samsun decided to have a monument built at the point where Mustafa Kemal landed in order to immortalize Atatürk's landing in Samsun on the Bandırma Ferry on May 19, 1919 to start the War of Independence.
On May 19, 1927, the foundation of the base of the monument was laid by the Governor of Samsun (1926-31) Kazım İnanç. For the sculpture, the order was given to the Austrian sculptor, engraver and painting artist Heinrich Krippel, who won the first place in the Ankara Nation Victory Monument competition, which was previously opened by the Turkish Government, by the people of Samsun in 1928.
Heinrich Krippel (September 27,1883- April 5, 1945)
The Austrian sculptor Heinrich Krippel, for whom the statue was commissioned, was born in Vienna on September 17, 1883, and was educated at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in the studio of Edmund von Hellmer and Hans Bitterlich.
Leaving the Vienna Art School, which said "The art of the age should be made, Art should have freedom" and which gave more importance to classical art and closed its doors to innovation, he joined the "Secession" established in Vienna, taking the example of the artist unions established in Berlin and Munich. The artist stayed in Turkey for 13 years until 1938, when he came in 1925, and produced many works.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk hosted the artist[1] in the mansion for these works and posed for him for the monument. Krippel went to Vienna with the desire to return to Turkey again. He could not return due to the outbreak of World War II and died on April 5, 1945 in Vienna, at the age of 62, after gastric surgery.
Krippel had worked on all of his sculptures in Turkey, and had the originals prepared in his workshop in Vienna. The bronze castings of the statues were made in parts at the "Vereinigte Metallwerke" in Vienna. The casting of the Samsun 19 May Monument Statue was also made in 32 pieces at “Vereinigte Metallwerke” in Vienna, 32 pieces were assembled, checked and then disassembled and transported in 32 boxes to be transported before the departure for final adjustments and cleaning and retouching. had been placed.
The chests of the statue were transported by the Nicea[2] ferry of the German "Deutsche Levant Linie" [3] Company departing from Hamburg and brought to Samsun port on Sunday, October 15 (Teşrin-i Sani) 1931, but the boxes were unloaded on Tuesday, October 17, due to bad weather conditions. Heinrich Krippel also came to Samsun with the statue on the same ferry and settled in the Park Hotel.
Krippel himself worked with Mayer, a Viennese engineer, to mount the statue on its base, which had already been built.
The opening ceremony of the monument was initially planned for January 10, the anniversary of the İnönü Victory, but as some preparations failed, the opening ceremony took place on Friday, January 15 (Kanun-i Sani) 1932, with the participation of a large crowd. As the clock was approaching 14, a military band from Tokat came to the ceremony area playing marches, followed by the military guard, gendarmerie, policemen, school students, members of the tradesmen's society, foreigners living in the city, consuls, members of industrial and financial institutions, the people from the surrounding towns and the people of Samsun. took their place around the monument.
After the National Anthem played by the band, telegrams sent by the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister were read from the pulpit in front of the monument.
Salim Bey, Samsun Valisi
Muhterem Samsun Halkının şahsıma karşı besledikleri asıl duyguların kıymetli bir tezahürünü bildiren telgrafınızdan pek mütehassıs oldum. Teşekkür muhabbet ve selamlarımın halka arzını rica ederim.”
Reis-i Cumhur Gazi Mustafa Kemal
“ Salim Bey, Samsun Valisi
Büyük Gazi’nin heykellerinin rakz-ı münasebetiyle vatanı seven Samsun Halkının gösterdiği asil ve necip duygularla teşekkür ederim. Efendim.”…
Başvekil İsmet
“Salim Bey, Governor of Samsun
I am very touched by your telegram, which is a precious manifestation of the true feelings of the Reverend People of Samsun towards me. I would like to offer my thanks, love and greetings to the public.”
Reis-i Cumhur Ghazi Mustafa Kemal
“Salim Bey, Governor of Samsun
I would like to thank you with the noble and noble feelings shown by the people of Samsun, who love the homeland, on the occasion of the honor of the statues of the Great Gazi. Respectfully."…
Deputy Ismet
Samsun Governor (1931-32) Mehmet Salim Gündoğan, who came to the podium after the telegrams were read, made a speech.
“Your Honorable Gentlemen.
The Chief of the Redeemer, Mustafa Kemal, the great hero of the Turks, saved our dear homeland from the hands of the enemy, and our beloved nation from the chains of bondage.
Thanks to the victories born of his determination and genius, we are living independently today. We owe our lives and our freedom to that determined commander and his devoted comrades in arms. That victorious commander, who always wins in the fields of Sahamet, in the great wars, is also the hero of the Revolution scenes. He is a mighty reformer, a creative state institution. With the reforms he created, he brought our nation to the norms of truth, to the illuminated horizons of civilization and prosperity. He founded our holy republic on the ruins of the rotten sultans' administration. History has not recorded a saving and creative state institution like our Great Veteran.
Gentlemen, he is a genius who excelled in his history. It is a single date. Glorious is the history of victories. There is no individual who does not know his greatness, and there is no heart that does not beat with his love. There is no heart of his beloved nation where he will live forever. The place where he will live forever is the heart of his beloved nation.
The day the Great Gazi set foot on the silvery shores of our Samsun is the turning point of the Turkish destiny. From that happy day, a new page was opened for Turkish history, and the suns of hope and victory were born on our dark horizons.
In order to keep the memory of this holy day alive and to perpetuate it, the venerable people of Samsun Province approached this statue, which is the epitome of the love overflowing from their hearts towards their great aunt.
This work is the epitome of our great aunt, who expresses the determination of the Turk, the strength and ore in the noble blood in his veins. It is the embodiment of the love that lives in the hearts. Samsun will forever keep this embodied example of the love that lives in the hearts in its bosom.
I am honored to open the image of our great pearl, in whose presence we bow respectfully. Long live our aunt, long live the nation and the army. ”
After this speech, Governor Mehmet Salim Gündoğan cut the ribbon holding the cloth wrapped around the statue and inaugurated the statue.
Later, Samsun Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Ethem Veysi Bey on behalf of the People's Party, Kefeli Muhittin Bey on behalf of Samsun City, Havzalı Zübeyiroğlu Fuat Bey on behalf of the General Assembly, Muhittin Bey on behalf of the Municipality spoke. After the speech of Education Director Cemal Gültekin, sculptor Henrich took the floor. Krippel came out and gave a speech in German, and the speech was translated by Ekrem Rüştü (Akomer) Bey.
In this speech by Krippel,
“…Atatürk is sitting upright on the prancing horse with his determined eyes looking proudly to the west and far away. There is fearlessness in this sitting, and the power of Turkishness in the arm reaching for the sword.”
After the speeches, Samsun, which continued with the parades of schools and military units, ended with the opening ceremony of the Mounted Atatürk Monument and the acceptance ceremony in the Provincial Assembly Hall. Many telegrams expressing respect and gratitude were sent to Gazi Mustafa Kemal on the occasion of the opening of the monument.
On the night of the opening, at 21:30, a banquet was held in honor of Heinrich Krippel at the Tobacco Monolith Factory, and the Governor, the Division Commander, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and the notables of Samsun attended the banquet. Ekrem Rüştü Bey, Krippel's general attorney, and Samsun Agency M. Markoli of Dusche Levant Linie Company, which transported the statue from Hamburg to Samsun free of charge, were among the guests.
Heinrich Krippel, who made a speech again during the banquet, expressed his sincere and sincere feelings towards the people of Samsun and thanked him.
The pedestal of the monument cost 20,000 TL, the statue 80,000 TL and all the expenses of the monument were covered by the people of Samsun.
The monument consisted of a bronze statue depicting Atatürk in a marshal uniform on a rearing horse on a rectangular prism-shaped marble-covered pedestal. While the ghazi was holding the reins of the horse with his left hand, he was seen to pull the hilt of his sword hanging from the end of the maneuvering belt with his right hand.
The upper part of his body was turned to the right against the movement of the horse and his face was towards the west. The uniform he was wearing wrapped around his body in a way to determine his body movement, reared up and the movement of the horse with its tail touching the ground highlighted its ambition to leap forward.
The statue in the 19 May Monument stood out with its mobility among all Atatürk Sculptures. This was evident in the direction of the horse's body and the Gazi's bodies on opposite sides, and the rearing and balanced stance of the horse on its hind legs and tail.
While the upright horse represented the people who were ready to take a challenge and to leap forward, Gazi's movement that tried to restrain the horse was the expression of his power and skill, and his domination was calling the nation impatient for independence.
On the bronze relief plate inside a pointed arched niche on the right side of the pedestal of the monument, Gazi Mustafa Kemal, who was depicted as a "one man" and praying upright in his Marshal outfit, and the people of Samsun, hugging their hands and crouching expressing their gratitude, were depicted in a way that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk would not approve of.
On the relief bronze plate located in the niche on the left side of the pedestal, a boat docked and the people carrying ammunition from this boat to the beach were depicted.
On the bronze plate on the front of the pedestal,
While it is written "Ghazi Came to Samsun on May 19, 1335-1919 to Start the National Struggle in the Homeland", the bronze plate on the reverse reads, "This Statue Was Erected by the People of Samsun Province on 29 First Year 1931." statement was included.
According to many sources, the Gazi Statue on a horse at the 19 May Monument is the most balanced and best “cavalry statue on a rearing horse” in the world, as its tail touches the ground (since the sculptor tries to distribute the load to the tail from both hind legs and to three points in order to maintain balance). It has been referred to as the second most balanced and best cavalry rearing horse statue.
[1] 1909 to 1913 Master class at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Professor Edmund Hellmer. Heinrich Krippel receives the Dumba Prize for the work "Group of Disinherited".
1918 |Heinrich Krippel begins his work as an independent foreman. In 1923 he received first prize in the competition for Atatürk's equestrian monument in Ankara.
1925 | Heinrich Krippel is commissioned with monuments to Kemal Atatürk in Ankara and Istanbul. They are the first portrait sculptures after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The way in which he stages and depicts the various facets of the statesman has made him extremely popular in Turkey and known worldwide. This also applies to the other Atatürk monuments erected in Samsun on the Black Sea and in Asiun-Karahissar in central Anatolia. The busts of other leading personalities occupied Krippel in Turkey until 1938.
Sources:
Holzapfel, Josef: Historisches Ober St. Veit. Handwerks-, Gewerbe- und Vereinsgeschichte. Wien, Interessensgemeinschaft Kaufleute Ober St. Veit, 2009
Holzapfel, Josef: Historical Upper St. Veit. Craft, trade and association history. Vienna, Community of Interests Merchants Ober St. Veit, 2009
[3] The Deutsche Levante-Linie AG (DLL) was a liner shipping company in Hamburg from 1889 to 1970.
Founded in 1889 to operate services to the Eastern Mediterranean, North African and Black Sea ports. Experimental services between the Mediterranean and New York were operated between 1902 - 1904 but then ceased. In 1910 the company amalgamated with Bremer Dampferlinie Atlas and in the same year took over the fleets of A. C. de Freitas and the Adria Line from H. C. Horn. By 1912 the company owned 54 ships and by 1914 Albert Ballinn and HAPAG owned a controlling interest in the company. In Aug.1914 with the outbreak of the Great War, all services were suspended and those in German ports were laid up.
The remainder either took refuge in neutral ports, were sunk or captured or taken over by allied Turkey. After the end of the war, the company was obliged to surrender all their ships over 1,600 gross tons to the Inter Allied Shipping Commission as war reparations. By 1920 Deutsche Levante Line had disappeared as an independent company and became an integral part of HAPAG. In 1935 under a German Government system of rationalisation DLL separated from the parent company. In the later 1920s, North German Lloyd also became involved with DLL and even put some of it's ships under DLL colours and flag. When the Nazi Government came to power in Germany, they dismantled the large companies and Deutsche Levante Line was reformed as a seperate company. 14 ships were transferred from HAPAG and 3 from NGL into the new company.
Most of their ships were lost during WWII and the surviving ones taken over by the Allies. The company was slowly rebuilt during the 1950s, but in 1956 the majority of shares were purchased by Rudolf A. Oetker who controlled Hamburg Sudamerikanische Line. In 1967 the funnels and colours of DLL were replaced by those of Hamburg Sud and by 1970 the company had disappeared completely. (see ship list here)