Ball Monument (Hamburg)
The spherical monument in Hamburg is the rudiment of a reminder of the French times in Hamburg , in particular the French siege and the fighting for the city in May 1813. Like other spherical monuments in Germany, it was created from cannonballs stuck in the wall . What has been preserved is a sandstone cuboid in the size of 132 × 133 × 133 centimeters with three small and one large sphere, set up as an architectural fragment in the ornamental garden in the ramparts on the north side of the Hamburg Museum .
History and locations
The memorial was created according to the design by Johann Hinrich Martin Brekelbaum, was financed with private donations and was unveiled on May 19, 1878 at Neustädter Neuenweg , the later St.-Annen-Platz on the wall frame . It was a church tower-like structure over a multi-level plinth, surrounded by a wrought iron fence. Incorporated and piled up were 65 bullets that had been preserved after the French bombarded the Great Grasbrook , as well as 21 bullets that came from the siege of the Danes under Christian V in August 1686. The base of the monument bore the inscription “Freedom was bravely won by your Hamburg fathers. It is worthy of you up to the latest generation! ”It is a free translation of the Libertatem quam peperere , which, in the Hamburg tradition, is placed above the portal of the town hall .
When the houses on the wall frame were demolished after 1880 for the construction of the Speicherstadt , the spherical monument was relocated to the Gertrudenkirchhof in the old town on December 3, 1883 . During the Second World War , the structure was largely destroyed and almost all cannonballs were lost. The rest was given a place at the Museum of Hamburg History.
More spherical monuments
In the Hamburg city area there is another spherical monument at Schwarzenberg in Harburg , inaugurated on May 9, 1894. It was erected using part of the 200 spheres that were found at the Harburg citadel after the French siege.
Ball monuments commemorating the French era and in particular the Battle of Nations were also erected in Leipzig in the Marienvorstadt and in Möckern and in Görlitz .
literature
- Otto Schoost: The ball monument. Its meaning, creation and completion, along with the documents relating to the foundation stone celebrations and unveiling . Basedow publishing house, Hamburg 1878.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hartwig Fiege: Hamburg monuments tell history , Hamburg 1980, p. 60
- ^ Wilhelm Melhop: Historical Topography of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg from 1880 to 1895 , Hamburg 1895, p. 43
- ↑ Hartwig Fiege: Hamburg monuments tell history , Hamburg 1980, p. 62
Coordinates: 53 ° 33 ′ 6 ″ N , 9 ° 58 ′ 24 ″ E