Lion Monument (Bad Abbach)
The lion monument near Bad Abbach is a monument from the 18th century to commemorate a difficult road expansion and is located near Bad Abbach , Lower Bavaria .
location
The monument is located next to Bundesstraße 16 , below the so-called Teufelsfelsen (sometimes called the Lion's Rock because of the monument), about two kilometers southwest of Bad Abbach on the steep bank of the Danube near the Eiermühle.
history
The bare, soaring Teufelsfelsen formed an obstacle for the road from Bad Abbach to Saal until the end of the 18th century . At this point it therefore ran partly in the river bed of the Danube, partly at a low level on the river bank, so that flooding often occurred. Even a slight rise in the water level flooded the road and traffic was impaired. In the event of severe floods and ice formations, as was often the case in the cold winters of 1784, 1786 and 1789, a difficult detour had to be taken over steep mountain trails. At the end of February 1784, the ice floes were 3 to 5 m high on the road at this point, and 85 workers had to work for 10 days to make them passable for traffic. In the summer of 1786 the site was flooded five times for several days.
For these reasons the government of Electoral Palatinate Bavaria decided to raise the important road and at the same time to widen it, whereby part of the rock had to be removed. Elector Karl Theodor came to Bad Abbach personally as early as 1789 to get an idea of how remedial action could be taken.
Work began in 1792 on his orders and under the direction of General Road and Hydraulic Engineering Director Adrian von Riedl . After lengthy preparations and smaller explosions, the main rock was blown up on April 2nd, 1793, in the presence of Riedl. In 1794, after the construction work was completed, Elector Karl Theodor returned to visit the site.
In this context, the Court Chamber Vice-President, Count Joseph August von Toerring , who was probably also responsible for the financing, had a monument erected for his sovereign. Nine meters above the road, the court stonemason Michael Mattheo attached a ten-meter-high stone tablet with a Latin inscription to the prince on the blasted rock face.
In addition, in 1796, to the right and left of the inscription plaque, two larger-than-life Bavarian lions were placed on three-meter-high plinths. These sculptures were created by the sculptor Franz Joseph Muxel and the sovereign liked them so much that he therefore appointed the artist as court sculptor. The originals were blown up in 1945 to create a roadblock against advancing American troops. Since 1978 there have been two copies of Richard Triebe again , although the heads are from the old statues.
Building stock
About nine meters above today's federal highway 16 there is a ten-meter-high plaque made of green sandstone from Ihrlerstein on the Teufelsfelsen . It bears the production year 1794 (Latin) and the Latin commemorative inscription in large bronze letters:
CAROLO. THEODORO.
CPR
BOIORUM. DUCI. ELECTORI.
OPTIMO. PRINCIPI.
EVERSA. DEIECTA.
IMMINENTIUM. SAXORUM. MOLE.
LIMITE. DANUBIO. POSITO.
STRATA. A. ROOM. AD. CANCEL.
VIA. NOVA.
MONUMENTUM. STATUI. CURAVIT.
JOS. AUG. TOER RING.
AER. BOIC. PRAEFECTUS.
In front of it is the German translation on a smaller memorial stone:
TO CARL THEODOR, PALATINE
COUNT OF
THE RHINE,
DUKE AND ELECTOR OF BAVARIA, THE BEST PRINCE, LESS; AFTER THE MASS OF
THREATENING ROCKS HAS BEEN DETACHED AND REMOVED, THE DANUBE WAS A BORDER
AND A NEW ROAD FROM SAAL
TO ABBACH WAS BUILT,
THIS MONUMENT WAS BUILT.
JOSEF AUGUST TOERRING
BAYER. COURT CHAMBER VICE-PRESIDENT
The flanking lions placed in front of it, each five meters long, two meters high and weighing over fifteen tons, stand on three-meter high pedestals. One looks at the inscription plaque, the other at the Danube. The originals were made from Kelheim limestone .
Not far from the lion monument there is another inscription plaque on the rock. It dates from 1797 and pays tribute to Adrian von Riedl. Their inscription reads:
THE
CHURVUIRSTLICHE
COLONEL
GENERAL ROADS AND HYDRAULIC CONSTRUCTION
DIRECTOR
ALSO HOFKAMMERRATH
ADRIAN VON RIEDL
DRIVEN AND COMPLETED THIS ROAD CONSTRUCTION
IN
1797
Geotope
The rock at the lion monument has been designated as an important geotope (geotope number: 273G002) and natural monument by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment .
literature
- Felix Joseph Lipowsky : Karl Theodor, Churfurst von Pfalz-Bayern , Sulzbach, 1828, p. 265; (Digital scan)
- Georg Rieger: Kelheimer Heimatbuch , 2nd edition, Leik-Druck, Kelheim, 1954, pp. 221–223
Web links
- The lion monument in Regiowiki Niederbayern
- Website of the community of Bad Abbach, on the lion monument
- Another website about the Lion Monument
- PDF document about the demolition of the devil's rock
Individual evidence
- ^ Website on the Elector's visit from 1789, in Bad Abbach
- ↑ Tanja Rexhepaj: A great achievement . In: Mittelbayerische Zeitung (Ed.): Natural monuments in Bavaria: The book for the series of the Mittelbayerische Zeitung . epubli, 2014, ISBN 978-3-8442-9838-3 ( digital scan ).
- ↑ The latest guide through the district capital Regensburg a. their surroundings , Manz Verlag, Regensburg, 1837, p. 108; (Digital scan)
- ↑ Bavarian State Office for the Environment, Geotop Felsen at the SW Lion Monument in Bad Abbach (accessed on October 17, 2017).
Coordinates: 48 ° 55 '38 " N , 12 ° 1' 16.4" E