Lion Monument (Dortmund)
The Lion Monument in Dortmund is the city's oldest small monument . It was inaugurated on October 17, 1869 in memory of the German War .
The memorial goes back to designs by Karl Friedrich Schinkel for the tomb of Gerhard von Scharnhorst . It commemorates the Dortmund soldiers who died in the battle of Königgrätz in 1866 . The floor plan shows the shape of a sarcophagus. The pedestal carries a sleeping lion as a symbol for the sleeping power of the fatherland. On the broadside are the names of the fallen.
The original location of the monument was the square in front of Dortmund Central Station . In 1910, the memorial had to move from its old location due to the expansion and rebuilding of the station. The new place was initially controversial. The “Western Citizens Association” therefore had a mobile 1: 1 copy of the monument made and set up at various locations. A provisional location for the memorial was the Hohe Wall in 1910.
In 1914, the monument was re-erected by the Landwehr Association on what was then Königswall (which began at the castle gate near Hansastraße and ran straight to the current confluence with Schmiedingstraße). The monument was greatly expanded. In addition to the actual monument, a multi-level platform and a water basin in front were built.
After the Second World War , the monument was moved again. Contrary to the car-friendly expansion of the Dortmund city center, the memorial was initially stored in a municipal building yard and then erected in the 1950s at its current location in Westpark . In the mid-1980s, the monument was extensively restored and placed under monument protection.
See also
To compare the articles about the sculpture Sleeping Lion by Rauch / Kalide (from 1822). Possibly identical origin.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 40.4 " N , 7 ° 26 ′ 54.7" E