Den Gefallenen zum dankbaren Gedächnis
Den Lebenden zur Mahnung
Den kommenden Geschlechtern zur Nacheiferung

In greatful memory for the dead soldiers
As a reminder to the living
As a model to emulate for future generations

Here the use of Nacheiferung (emulation) indeed has to be questioned, considering that 40,000 Hamburg citizens died in the war that is gloryfied here. Their lives were senselessly wasted, in my optinion.