War Cemeteries Built by the K. u. K. Militärkommando Krakau, with Special Regard to Dušan Jurkovič´s Contribution

Dana Bořutová

Abstract
This article describes the conditions and working processes of the Department of Military Cemeteries established at the Headquarters of the Imperial and Royal Army of Austria in Cracow, 1916-1918. Particular attention is paid to the designs prepared by the architect Dušan Jurkovič (1868-1947). The domain of commemorative architecture represented a novel task to the architect, formerly renowned for his emphatic style synthesizing vernacular architecture and Art Nouveau. Leaning on his close acquaintance with the traditions of Carpathian wooden architecture, he thoroughly studied the language of classical monumental architecture and developed a distinctive and poetic style for his sepulchral ensembles. This paper elucidates the architect’s development, his considerations, and the typology of his cemeteries and monuments, explaining also the significance of Jurkovič’s Galician experience for his later career.

The Cracow Department – Kriegsgräberabteilung des k. u. k. Militärkommandos Krakau

[1] Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, the Russian army took control over extensive territories of Galicia, causing heavy losses to the Austro-Hungarian army. The Russians advanced to the Carpathian Mountains, where fierce clashes took place throughout the winter of 1914/15. The front line, initially pushed to the West under the Russian attack, then shifted back eastwards until May 1915, when the area became reconquered by the Austrian-Hungarian army assisted by German troops. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed in action during the battles.

[2] To counteract the consequences of these battles, the Ministry of War decreed the constitution of a department of military cemeteries at the local Imperial and Royal Army of Austria Headquarters in Cracow (Kriegsgräberabteilung des k. u. k. Militärkommandos Krakau). This department was ordered to establish burial grounds on the battlefields. It orchestrated a carefully organized system of special groups and divisions in order to provide for a dignified and reverent entombment of soldiers killed on both sides of the front line.

[3] The department was entrusted with administering a territory of roughly 10,000 km².¹ The department’s work was well-organized and carried out professionally and efficiently, beginning in January 1916. Within nine months, hundreds of scattered provisional burial sites were replaced by permanent cemeteries to become the final resting grounds for more than 60,000 soldiers. The department had specialized working groups ranging from planning and design studios to exhumation and identification staff, craftsmen of any kind needed and a fund-raising group. Overall, the department’s personnel exceeded 3,000, including both military and civilian specialists of diverse professions. The vast territory was subdivided into ten districts administered by teams led by architects and including sculptors, painters, draughtsmen and photographers (Fig. 1).²

1 Kriegsgräberabteilung des k. u. k. Militärkommandos Krakau, group portrait of members of the Department (third from the right Dušan Jurkovič), 1915-1917, photograph, 13,5 x 21,5 cm. Slovak National Archives, Bratislava, personal fund Dušan Jurkovič, sign. III-I/9, A22: album, 17 x 26 cm, fol. 14: „Vojna. Halič. Upomienky“ (© Slovak National Archives, Bratislava)

[4] The department’s staff members were aware of the political significance of their work and of its profound moral, religious and didactic aspects. They were directed by Major Rudolf Broch, who had quit his architectural studies to serve in Galicia and was finely attuned to the artistic aspects of the work. Assisted by captain (Hauptmann) Hans Hauptmann who was in charge of editorial work, they jointly edited a book presenting the department’s results, Die westgalizischen Heldengräber aus den Jahren des Weltkrieges 1914-1918 (Wien 1918).³ At the heart of their conception was a belief in the sacredness of the soil that had been soaked with the blood of soldiers and that held the bodies of the casualtiesas witnessed by their writing in 1917:

Dieser Erkenntnis und diesem tiefinnersten Drang zur Dankbarkeit galt es Ausdruck zu geben, wo wir unseren gefallenen Helden die letzte Heimstatt bereiteten. In der Art, wie wir es taten, sollte vor aller Welt überzeugend bekundet werden, daß diese vielen Tausende von Kriegern nicht allein dem engen Kreis ihrer Angehörigen verloren sind, daß sie vielmehr von allen Völkern unter dem Habsburgzepter als ihre geliebten und verehrten Brüder beweint werden!
Bis in die spätesten Zeiten hinaus sollen ja auch diese Gräberfelder uns und unseren Nachfahren Stätten der Läuterung und der Erhebung sein. Kräfte sollen von ihnen ausstrahlen, die Wankende aufrichten, Irrende zu sich selbst zurückführen und in Stunden neuer Prüfungen die heilige Flamme der Vaterlandsliebe und der Begeisterung für unsere hohen Kulturgüter immer wieder zu lohenden Bränden entfachen.⁴

[5] The conceptual design of these permanent cemeteries was dominated by architects coming from various parts of the Habsburg monarchy,⁵ bringing with them a plurality of architectural idioms of the early 20th century ranging from Secession through expressive or regionalist tendencies, and being familiar with the centuries-old classical tradition of symbols and motifs associated with commemorative and sepulchral architecture. For their mission, the designers could consult both historical examples⁶ and publications of newly created cemeteries (e. g. Soldatengräber und Kriegsdenkmale)⁷. However, along with reverential, ideological, and artistic aspects, there were also practical tasks to be accomplished – such as clearing the damaged forests or returning the soil to agricultural use. Individual projects were assessed in collective discussions. Great care was spent on the placing of the cemeteries; many were located on battlefields, others were placed in the vicinity of village cemeteries. Efforts were made to harmonize the new constructions with the landscape and local architecture. In fact, many of these sites, developed together with sculptors, painters and other artists,⁸ were, in their own right, Gesamtkunstwerke integrated into the landscape.⁹

[6] The thorough conception of these cemeteries was also reflected in the accompanying promotional activities and publications prepared by the Cracow Commando and meant to contribute, among others, to fund-raising, promotional print-outs, or exhibitions such as Kunstausstellung der Kriegsgräberabteilung des K. u. k. Militärkommandos Krakau, Friedhofsprojekte und Bilder vom westgalizischen Kampfgebiet, organized in May 1915.¹⁰ Dušan Jurkovič later described the conditions under which he had worked like this:

[…] I took permanent residence in Krakow, where our department was headquartered. In the summer, I supervised 42 sites, one after another. [...] In my capacity of architect-designer I was entirely independent. My job was to find, within the orbit of the events, cemetery sites, [to determine] their positioning, development and choice of construction materials [...].¹¹

What do we know about the author of these lines?

Dušan Jurkovič in Galicia

[7] Dušan Jurkovič (1868-1947)¹² entered the scene of Central European architecture at the turn of the century as an architect of singular style, harmonizing diverse contemporary inspirations stemming from the Arts & Crafts Movement, the Secession and the Wiener Werkstätte as well as combining technological innovation with elements of the regional tradition of his native Carpathian borderland between Slovakia and Moravia.¹³ In the multi-ethnic environment of the Habsburg monarchy, his idiosyncratic style was perceived as distinctly Slavic yet modern and earned him accolades abroad.

[8] The broad typological scale of his successful activity included villas (Rezek, 1900-1901; Brno, 1906; Prague, 1907-1908), apartment houses (Brno, 1908) and housing colonies for workers (Hronov, 1907), numerous interior furnishings, a series of spa and accommodation facilities for Luhačovice (largely 1902), public and tourist buildings (Club House in Skalica, 1904; tourist facilities at Peklo, 1910, and Dobrošov, 1912) as well as conversions of historical buildings into modern representative residences including the interior design and garden architecture (Molitorov, 1909-1913; Nové Město nad Metují, 1909-1911, Zbraslav, 1911-1913), and a number of publications accompanying his work¹⁴ and exemplifying his ideas.¹⁵

[9] When joining the department of military cemeteries in Cracow in early 1916, out of the ten districts entrusted to the department, Jurkovič chose the district of Zmigród that lay north of the present-day border between Poland and Slovakia,¹⁶ then still forming the Hungarian part of the Danube Monarchy: "[...] I had been assigned the upland running from Gorlice through Jaslo towards Dukla. My first trip there made me happy about this assignment at the borderline mountains of Slovakia […]."¹⁷ Experiencing the affinity of the distinctive local architecture with that of his homeland, he employed it as one of his sources. Yet the work to come was new to him – tombs and memorials had been rather scarce among his previous commissions.¹⁸ This prompted the architect to undertake a thorough study of the symbolic idiom of classical commemorative architecture. Besides, the architect could also rely on his experience from previous times. In terms of correspondence with the natural scenery, the interpretation of the spiritual and sacred import of the location as well as the typology of architectural components and motives, Jurkovič’s Cracow mission was closely akin to his designs for the pilgrimage site at Sv. Hostýn (1903), a precedent the architect was deliberately exploiting in its various aspects.

[10] Drawing from these different sources, Jurkovič created some three dozen cemetery designs, achieving a specific quality that became appreciated by the contemporary press. Acclaim for Jurkovič’ works can be found for instance in Carl Heicke’s article "Von galizischen Kriegerfriedhöfen"; commenting on the Berlin exhibition of projects designed in the department for war cemeteries in Cracow, he points out to "[…] Arbeiten von so ausgesprochener Eigenart, daß sie schon allein um deswillen besondere Beachtung verdienen […]",¹⁹ and refers especially to Jurkovič’ designs as representing

Beispiele dafür […] wie jegliche Aufgaben unter verschiedenen Verhältnissen zu ganz anders gearteten Lösungen führen können, wenn der entwerfende Künstler mit dem Gefühlsleben und der Denkungsweise seiner Volksgenossen und den sich auf Herkommen, örtliche Verhältnisse und Werkstoffe stützenden Gewohnheiten durchaus vertraut ist und aus alledem die besondere Ausdrucksform für seine Schöpfungen abzuleiten vermag, wie es hier Jurkovič gelungen ist.²⁰

[11] Jurkovič’ works also received positive comments from Professor Leopold Bauer.²¹ Most of the articles²² were foregrounding Jurkovič’ woodwork, a fact he himself commented with a touch of resentment: "[…] I worked, under the circumstances, with wood and stone alike, but the works of stone have always been suppressed at exhibitions and rated lower than my works with wood."²³ Besides timber and stone, used in a variety of structural, expressive and ornamental modes, the material range also included concrete or cast stone as well as metals and all kinds of greenery, so important to achieve coalescence with the natural environment.²⁴

[12] Jurkovič’s conceptual design acknowledged both the historical events and the specifics of the location. While the landscape itself was shaped by fierce battles, the cemeteries were to tell the stories of the events in remembrance of the fallen entombed there. Essentially, he would opt for

[…] remote mounds, steep slopes and, above all, the sites of the fiercest clashes of armies. While my colleagues erected parks with sand-filled pathways, sowing bushes and flowers, I was resolved to put my little cemetery amid the natural charms and wild beauties of the Carpathian slopes as if made by the invisible hands of the local popular tradition […].²⁵ (Fig. 2)

2 Dušan Jurkovič, Cemetery at Rotunda (Nr. 51), 1916, photograph of the model, 50 x 66 cm. Slovak National Archives, Bratislava, personal fund Dušan Jurkovič, sign. III-M/16, B24 (© Slovak National Archives, Bratislava)

And with years of hindsight, by the end of the 1920s, he wrote: "I have sought eternal and unperishable harmony in coalescence with the soil and the land, albeit in works that were perishable easily, and yet did not want them to be a mere mode du jour."²⁶

[13] This coalescence of the monuments’ symbolic forms with their natural surroundings was his vehicle for conveying the human fate and at the same time a source of solace and conciliation. Thus, his cemetery structures united the victims’ fates with the site of their final rest, communicating a sense of reverence without overstated dramatics, pathos and monumentalism: "My Galician monuments were always conceived as religious, reverent structures, the exact opposite of […] Helden-Denkmale, heroic memorials. I, for one, have made memorials for those fallen."²⁷

Characteristics of the cemeteries

[14] Jurkovič’ cemeteries in Galicia stand out for their diversity of forms and unique poetry and, most importantly, for their natural integration into the landscape. Nevertheless, a look at the master plan of cemeteries and mass graves²⁸ reveals – along with a remarkable diversity of schemes – that the architect often made use of regular, in many cases symmetric, even ornamental ground schemes. These determined the composition and its legibility. At the same time, the harmony between this manmade intervention – a geometrically defined, extrinsically asserted feature – and its surroundings was achieved by the choice of scales and materials.

[15] Despite all the variety, Jurkovič´ cemeteries share some common basic characteristics: The cemeteries’ enclosures, mostly of quarrystone masonry combined with timber, are covered by shingled roofs. The fencing was often interspersed with shelters and smaller chapels – such as at the cemetery of Grab (Nr. 4);²⁹ in some instances, these were replaced by protruding pillars with roofs atop, as illustrated by the cemeteries at Regetów Wyzny (Nr. 48), or Dlugie (Nr. 44). The main axis of the layout was always accentuated at the entrance by the architectural motif of a gateway and, at its opposing end, affirmed by the vertical central memorial structure or chapel, eventually by a set of such elements; amongst numerous examples can be mentioned the cemeteries at Gladyszów (Nr. 55), Grab (Nr. 4), Konieczna-Beskidek (Nr. 46), Magura-Przełęcz Małastowska (Nr. 60), or Rotunda (Nr. 51) [Fig. 2]. While in some cases the firm axis of the plan points to a picturesque component of the landscape scenery, such as at Lysa Gora (Nr. 9) [Fig. 3], in other cases the architect responded to irregularities of the site by playfully balancing symmetry and asymmetry, as can be seen at the cemeteries of Blechnarka (Nr. 49) or Magura (Nr. 58).

3 Dušan Jurkovič, Cemetery at Łysa Góra (Nr. 9), 1916-1917, photograph, 23,2 x 30 cm. Slovak National Archives, Bratislava, personal fund Dušan Jurkovič, sign. III-B/1, A55 (© Slovak National Archives, Bratislava)

[16] The style of Jurkovič’ cemeteries has often been described as "Old Slavonic", usually in reference to the traditional cemeteries featuring timbered monuments. Although his use of stone clearly outnumbered his constructions in timber,³⁰ still the distinguishing wooden elements became decisive for the stylistic characterization of his designs. Traditional techniques and forms of the Carpathian timbered construction informed his "translation" of classical and Christian symbolic forms of commemorative architecture into vernacular, or "Slavonic" style, the effect being accentuated by carved details and colourfully painted decoration. Even when working in stone, the traditional symbols of the classical vocabulary (such as the obelisk, pyramide, tumulus, pylon, tholos or sarcophagus) and the shapes associated with Christian symbolism (various types of crosses, the sepulchral chapel or allusions to other elements of religious architecture) were embraced by Jurkovič in his own unique manner.

[17] Following the roughness of the surrounding upland as well as the idea of his works, he preferred coarse archaic shapes echoing earthiness and closeness to nature, thus modifying classical geometry-based forms by giving them raw finishes and using reduced and altered variations. The wild and rugged landscape and the cruelty of the underlying events inspired him to an idiosyncratic transformation – his structures result from his aspiration towards the primeval and archetypal; through the coarsening and archaizing he brought the classical patterns and forms closer to the vernacular tradition. Thus, the monuments exhibit an affinity to obelisks and, at the same time, to towers of the local timbered churches and chapels, as visible at the cemeteries of Rotunda (Nr. 51) [Fig. 2], Gładyszów (Nr. 55), Konieczna-Beskidek (Nr. 46), Przełęcz Małastowska (Nr. 60), Grab (Nr. 4), or Łużna-Pustki (Nr. 123) [Fig. 4].

4 Dušan Jurkovič, Memorial chapel at Łużna-Pustki (Nr. 123), 1916, photograph, 31 x 25 cm. Slovak National Archives, Bratislava, personal fund Dušan Jurkovič, sign. III-D/2, A53 (© Slovak National Archives, Bratislava)

The smooth surfaces of classical pyramids are turned into tumuli of unrefined blockstones or quarrystones like at Magura (Nr. 58), Blechnarka (Nr. 49), or Łysa Góra (Nr. 9) [Fig. 3]. Elsewhere, the classical types serve as points of departure for differing modifications – as is the case with the monopteros of Krempna (Nr. 6), or they are, thoroughly polished, in stark contrast to their natural surroundings, such as at Nowy Żmigród (Nr. 8) or at the cemetery with mausoleum at Wola Cieklińska (Nr. 11) [Fig. 5].

5 Dušan Jurkovič, Design of the cemetery at Wola Cieklińska (Nr. 11), 1915, front view 1:50, ink, tracing paper on canvas, 44,5 x 60,4 cm. Slovak National Archives, Bratislava, personal fund Dušan Jurkovič, sign. III-E/9, C58 (© Slovak National Archives, Bratislava)

[18] Also the Christian symbols, particularly the crosses at the graves, are consistently differentiated according to the nationality and religious denomination of the buried soldiers and assume the variety and vigour of the vernacular manner.

[19] Regarding the forms of their dominant monument in relation to the overall arrangement, Jurkovič’ Galician designs are basically distinguishable into four typological groups. Since Jurkovič often had the cemeteries built on sites of former wartime battles, in numerous instances, the landscape, conceived as a sacred site, was dominated by vertically accentuated forms resembling chapels or towers of Carpathian churches. Thus, the first group comprises cemeteries that all feature tower-like chapels, situated often uphill and commanding distant views, such as the cemeteries at Gładyszów (Nr. 55) and Grab (Nr. 4), the imposing quinary composition at Rotunda (Nr. 51) [Fig. 2], or the 25 m high structure at Łużna-Pustki (Nr. 123) [Fig. 4], highly praised by Broch and Hauptmann. That these were not strictly timbered constructions is witnessed by their formal equivalents, such as the stone construction of the towered monument at the Konieczna-Beskidek cemetery (Nr. 46) or a series of masoned chapels at the Grab cemetery (Nr. 4). Another variation of the monumental timbered chapel-type is found at Przełęcz Małastowska (Nr. 60); it houses an image of the Madonna Czestochowska and displays the specific motif of a threefold cross rooted in Ruthenian tradition.

[20] The second group is characterized by the sign of a monumental cross as the central memorial; this design was mainly employed for smaller cemeteries. The central crosses were larger and more decorative modifications of the sepulchral crosses that were usually mounted as grave markers. Stylistically, they stem from the vernacular tradition and display a considerable variety of forms: Wooden crosses topped by a single triangular "roof" are to be found at Czarne (Nr. 53), Długie (Nr. 44), Wysowa (Nr. 50), Konieczna (Nr. 47), or Gladyszow (Nr. 55) [Fig. 6].

6 Dušan Jurkovič, Design of the sepulchral cross for the cemetery at Gladyszów, front view 1:10, 1916, ink, tracing paper on canvas, coloured, 23,7 x 13 cm. Slovak National Archives, Bratislava, personal fund Dušan Jurkovič, sign. III-Q/11, C50 (© Slovak National Archives, Bratislava)

A richly ornamented wooden cross with a metal canopy, echoing one of the chapels from St. Hostýn, dominates the cemetery at Smerekowiec (Nr. 56) [Fig. 7]; an example with rounded silhouette stands at Uscie Gorlickie (Nr. 57); a simply hewn stone cross crowns the barrow structure at Krzywa (Nr. 54), and the external walling of the cemeteries at Ożenna (Nr. 3) and Przysłup (Nr. 59). The architect characteristically used austere geometrically shaped "cubic" stone crosses as well, such as atop the fencing pillars at Smerekowiec [Fig. 7] or the monument at Ozenna (Nr. 3).

7 Dušan Jurkovič, Cemetery at Smerekowiec (Nr. 56), 1916-1917, photograph, 20 x 26,7 cm. Slovak National Archives, Bratislava, personal fund Dušan Jurkovič, sign. III-G/4, A53 (© Slovak National Archives, Bratislava)

[21] The "coalescence with the soil" desired by Jurkovič was achieved by enclosure designs that were meant not to interfere with the natural lines of the landscape when viewed from a distance while still clearly demarcating an area of reverence and ensuring uninterrupted peace for the deceased. Thus, the third typological group is made up of cemeteries with the main monument appearing as if directly growing out of the site’s external wall, formed into a set-piece supporting the sacred and reverent symbols and protecting the graves in an atmosphere of repose. This solution evoking an enclosed, secluded space was suitable for small cemeteries where it afforded compactness, even intimacy of the site of reverence; elsewhere, it was prompted by the cemetery’s adjacency to other constructions, for instance church buildings such as in Desznica (Nr. 7), or municipal outskirts such as in Uscie Gorlickie (Nr. 57). However, this was also efficiently accomplished at larger sites, if finely attuned to the proportional relationships, in a picturesque connection with the landscape relief as can be seen at the cemeteries at Regetów Wyżny (Nr. 48) [Fig. 8], or Wirchne (Nr. 61). Silhouettes of these monuments often feature a triangular shape in reference to the schemes of sacred symbols as the pyramid or a temple’s tympanum.

8 Dušan Jurkovič, The main memorial of the cemetery at Regetów Wyżny (Nr. 48), 1916, photograph, 8,5 x 11,5 cm. Slovak National Archives, Bratislava, personal fund Dušan Jurkovič, sign. III-I/7, A22: album, fol. 33 (© Slovak National Archives, Bratislava)

[22] The fourth group of cemeteries designed by Jurkovič follows more closely the vocabulary of the classical commemorative and sepulchral architecture. Here, his response to the tradition becomes more general rather than locally-driven, with a discernable inspiration borrowed from classical patterns both in the typology of monumental structures and their morphology and detailing. Stylistically, these cemeteries make up a synthesis of various inspirations: time-honoured patterns and symbols, bearing significant signs of the process of reduction and archaization so symptomatic for Jurkovič, and eventually deliberately contrasted with the refined decorative details hewn by Italian stonedressers, the prisoners of war. As a result, the elegant classical forms, rendered in somehow less refined, "roughened up" manner, underscore the air of antiquity and, in a profound reflection of the work’s actual contents, offer expressive power as well as a close relationship with the natural setting. The considerable formal diversity of these designs is witnessed by the monopteros monument at Krempna (Nr. 6), the complex terraced composition culminating in the mausoleum at Wola Cieklińska (Nr. 11) [Fig. 5], the set of five elegant pylons at Nowy Żmigród (Nr. 8), the harsh pyramidal monuments at Magura (Nr. 58), Blechnarka (Nr. 49), or Łysa Góra (Nr. 9) [Fig. 3], the sarcophagus monuments at Kłopotnica (Nr. 10)³¹, or the simple stepped pylons at Radocyna (Nr. 43) and Zdynia (Nr. 52).

Epilogue

[23] Jurkovič´s work for the Kriegsgräberabteilung in Cracow comprised more than thirty war cemeteries, designed between 1915 and 1918, mostly in 1916. If, by that time, designing sepulchral and commemorative architecture meant a new field of activity for him, the following years saw this topic become a permanent and most important part of his work in which he continued to incorporate his intense Galician experience. "For me, military work was but a circumstance, an education and preparation for the future we had been expecting to come, and come it did", Jurkovič wrote in 1943.³² In the newly changed social and political setting that had been brought about by the Great War, the architect continued to be a major and versatile figure shaping the development of architecture in his native country. While spending much of his creative energy on projects of practical purposes in addition to activities outside of architecture, he continuously concerned himself with commemorative architecture and did so in terms of the highest artistic ambitions: "I would like to see Slovakia strewn [...] with monuments dedicated to every mind and action of note, [...] an illustrated history of our suffering, our fight and resurrection", with the intention to "[...] elevate, cultivate and enhance the soul of the people [...] towards harmony and beauty".³³

[24] Later, sketches and designs of memorials even became a means to express his thoughts and to comment on the events of the Second World War. Despite the abundance of concepts and proposals, created in the 1920s to 1940s, only a handful of his designs have been carried into execution. Jurkovič nevertheless authored what has become Slovakia’s best-known monument – Milan Rastislav Štefánik’s Tumulus at Bradlo (1919-1928), bearing conspicuous traces of his Galician experience. The construction of this monument was inspired by the mourning decoration for the exequies; the architect himself considered it his "best and most daring artistic accomplishment".³⁴ The monument has been rightfully recognized as one of the masterpieces of 20th century architecture in Slovakia.

Guest Editors of Special Issue
Christian Fuhrmeister and Kai Kappel, eds., War Graves, War Cemeteries, and Memorial Shrines as a Building Task, 1914-1989. Die Bauaufgabe Soldatenfriedhof/Kriegsgräberstätte zwischen 1914 und 1989, in: RIHA Journal 0150-0176

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