Crematorium and urn grove in Liberec

The first realization of the crematorium building was achieved in the city of Liberec (Reichenberg) despite the active efforts of the Society for the Incineration of Corpses and the Crematorium Society, where one of the most active branches of the society Die Flamme operated under the leadership from Vienna. The city council had been inclined towards the idea of cremation since 1898, but the Provincial Office in Prague was reluctant to permit the construction. In December 1913, the city announced a competition for the project. The jury did not award the first prize, the second went to the designs by architect Rudolf Scholz and Josef Schid. The third prize was awarded for the design Feuerburg to the Dresden architect Rudolf Bitzan, whose project was chosen by the local branch of Die Flamme. The cornerstone was laid in 1915 and the construction was completed in 1917 *.
The Liberec crematorium, situated on an elevated plateau above the city, embodies especially the romantic Reich German ideals in its architecture. The romantic idea that captures the character of the building is already evident in the location and name of the project Feuerburg. The Fire Castle, whose model was the victorious eagle, was meant to rise on Monstransberg mountain like an impregnable fortress. The entire concept of the crematorium was conceived by the architect as solemn and symbolic. To this day, the building's massive entrance with two Egyptian monumental columns and abstract figures of guardians on both sides, reminiscent of the drawings of the guardians of the fantastic castle from Kotěra's illustration to the Tale of the Black Knight (1902), captures attention. Bitzan's guardians of the temple are more like gravestones than sculptures. Half of their bodies are covered by shields with animalistic symbols in a circle: owl, snake, lion, eagle. The wings of the guardians are stylized in the shape of birds - eagles - the symbol of the German Empire, an attribute of strength and victory. The same elements can be found in the architecturally much more interesting Dresden crematorium by Fritz Schumacher.

* F. Rüchter, Feuerhalle - Urnenhain in Reichenberg, Reichenberg 1928. - The project and plans of the crematorium are archived in: SOA Liberec, sign. K/2.

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