Hermann Heights Monument
The Hermann Heights Monument is a memorial in New Ulm in the US state of Minnesota .
It was inaugurated on the initiative of German immigrants in 1897 as a counterpart to the Hermannsdenkmal, which was completed in 1875 .
history
The monument was built on the decision of the German immigrant and architect Julius Berndt. He was a member of the Order of the Sons of Herman Lodge , which also financed the construction of the monument. As a model he used the Hermannsdenkmal built near Detmold , which commemorates the Cheruscan prince Arminius and the so-called battle in the Teutoburg Forest , in which Germanic tribes under Arminius' leadership the three Roman legions XVII , XVIII and XIX under Publius Quinctilius Varus in the year 9 with devastating beating.
In addition to the symbol of the pride of German immigrants in their old homeland, it should also be understood as a contribution to integration and friendship between Germans and Americans. After the foundation stone was laid for the monument in 1888, construction was delayed again and again due to lack of money, so that it was only completed and ceremoniously inaugurated on September 25, 1897. To this end, over 10,000 German immigrants gathered at the memorial in New Ulm.
In 1973 the monument was added to the National Register of Historic Places . In 2000, the United States Congress designated the Hermann Memorial as the official symbol of the historical legacy of German immigrants in the United States.
architecture
The structure is around 31 meters high. It consists of a substructure made of dolomitic Kasota limestone . On top of it, eleven pillars support the eight-meter-high dome, which is accessible via a spiral staircase . It offers visitors a view of the Minnesota River Valley . The copper statue of Hermann designed by the sculptor Alfonzo Pelzer of the WH Mullins Manufacture stands on the dome . It is almost ten meters high and therefore significantly smaller than the statue of the Hermann monument. She is called Hermann the German . It is the third largest copper monument in the United States after the Statue of Liberty and Portlandia .
literature
- Kathleen Neils Conzen: Germans in Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul MN 2003, ISBN 0-87351-454-8 , pp. 1 ff.
Web links
- Hermann Monument in the USA
- Information for Hermann Heights Monument (English)
- Video about the Hermann Heights Monument on Youtube (English)
Coordinates: 44 ° 18 ′ 25.8 " N , 94 ° 28 ′ 22.5" W.