Lion Monument Lucerne

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Lion sculpture and inscriptions
with environment

The Lion Monument is located in the center of Lucerne and recalls in the allegory of a dying lion on the 10th August 1792 at the Tuileries in Paris fallen Swiss Guards . The inauguration of the monument, about ten by six meters in size, carved out of a sandstone rock , took place on the anniversary of 1821. It is one of the most famous monuments in Switzerland and is visited by around 1.4 million tourists every year. In 2006 it was placed under Swiss monument protection.

Historical background

During the French dominance over Switzerland, a regiment of around 1200 Swiss served as guards in the service of King Louis XVI . During the French Revolution , the applied stormed revolutionaries to by the royal family already abandoned Tuileries Palace . During the defense of the empty royal palace by around 1,000 Swiss guardsmen, around 760 were killed; on the occasion of the Tuileries storm, all 200 guardsmen who had accompanied the king to the national assembly were killed.

description

In a rock grotto surrounded by a park lies a fatally wounded, dying lion with a piece of a spear sticking out of its back. His head and right front paw rest on the French coat of arms, to the left of him are some weapons, next to it leans the Swiss coat of arms. The lion sculpture is carved out of the rock, some of its parts are executed as a relief. Their paws are about twice the size of human heads. The monument measures about ten by six meters. The Latin motto HELVETIORUM FIDEI AC VIRTUTI (The loyalty and bravery of the Swiss) is carved above the lion . The names of the 26 fallen officers and the 16 rescued or surviving officers are carved under the lion. An approximate number is given for the soldiers of the Swiss Guard: about 760 fallen and 350 rescued or surviving soldiers.

The complex also includes a pond and a memorial chapel. The pond also serves as a wishing well and is drained twice a year for cleaning purposes, while the city nursery removes the coins. The memorial chapel, to the right of the entrance to the park, was designed and built by Louis Pfyffer von Wyher .

  • Lion head with coat of arms and weapons

  • Monument pond

  • Memorial chapel

History of the monument

Planning and construction

The lion monument was created on the initiative of the guard officer Karl Pfyffer von Altishofen , who was actually stationed in Paris but who was on vacation in Lucerne in the summer of 1792 , in honor of and in memory of his comrades. Pfyffer suggested a rock face outside the city wall of Lucerne as the location for the monument, on a piece of land below the Wesemlin that the city had leased to him since 1805. In 1818 the city council gave him permission to have a monument made in the rock in his garden.

Based on ancient models, Pfyffer chose a slain lion resting on a pile of weapons as the motif for the monument. He was encouraged in this idea by his friend, a poet and painter from Zurich, Johann Martin Usteri , whose two designs from 1817 did not convince him. After several drafts submitted by local and Swiss artists that did not meet the expectations and requirements, Pfyffer was able to win over the famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen , who lives in Rome , for his project. The collaboration was initiated by Lucerne Mayor Vinzenz Rüttimann , who happened to travel to Rome in 1818 and returned with a memorial sketch by Thorvaldsen that aroused enthusiasm at home. Contrary to Pfyffer's idea of ​​a dead lion, the sketch shows a resting, dying lion. According to Rüttimanns, after hearing about the sad events in Paris, Thorvaldsen said: "So the lion was not dead ... he just has to rest ..."

The price for the busy and sought-after Thorvaldsen to build the monument by his own hand was too high for Pfyffer, and so he was commissioned to make a plaster model and send it to Lucerne. The Zurich sculptor Heinrich Keller , who from then on negotiated with the artist in Rome, convinced Pfyffer with both artistic and financial reasons not to cast the lion out of bronze to set it up in front of the rock face, but to chisel it directly into the stone, an idea Thorvaldsen was happy to take up. At the end of October 1819, two plaster models reached Lucerne, a small one with a grotto and the actual model, a large lion, which, however, had broken into pieces during the long journey and had to be put back together again.

After Thorvaldsen's model and his instructions, which he gave on August 12, 1819 in a surprise visit while passing through, the monument was finally erected by the Solothurn sculptor Urs Pankraz Eggenschwiler (who was seriously injured after a short time when he fell from the scaffolding ) and then carved into the rock by Lukas Ahorn from Constance . On August 10, 1821 - exactly 29 years after the Tuileries Tower - it was unveiled and ceremoniously inaugurated.

The monument was financed by subscription . In 1818 Pfyffer sent a corresponding appeal for donations to «all who love the fatherland». On the one hand, the fallen heroes are to be honored in the memorial, on the other hand, the few surviving war veterans are to be compensated with the additional income. Almost exclusively representatives of the Ancien Régime took part , not only from Switzerland, but from all over Europe. It was donated by the Emperor of Russia , the King of Prussia , the French royal family and Prince Christian Frederik of Denmark (who later became Christian VIII ).

  • Sketch by Thorvaldsen

  • View of the workshop

  • Subscription slip

Expansion and maintenance

Since the sculpture is mostly modeled out of a sandstone rock ( molasse sandstone ), it is considered a natural monument and is much more difficult to maintain than a free-standing monument. Even before the monument was erected, the prognosis of a technical report obtained in 1818 on the condition of the rock face was unfavorable. As early as 1858, Lucerne newspapers reported the neglect of the lion monument carved in soft stone. A major problem from the start is water penetration, which causes frost pressure and washes away salts. In 1864, the Lucerne city council approved an initial loan for urgent restoration work and for the production of winter cladding. Nevertheless, a lion's paw broke off in 1872 and was repaired by the Stans sculptor Odermatt. The lion monument became the property of the city of Lucerne in 1882 - as a result, treatments with chemical preservatives, as well as the construction of drainage and an insulating tunnel about 30 m long, driven into the rock behind the monument from 1899 to 1901, reduced the problem of decay. but do not eliminate it for good. In the fall of 1950, a piece of the thigh that was at least one meter long broke off, which necessitated further restoration work by the Lucerne sculptors Leopold Häfliger , Jakob Gamper and Emilio Stecher in the following two years . The memorial was placed under cantonal protection in 1964, whereupon rock-securing measures were implemented in 1978 and the inscription was re-engraved in 1982. After all copper pipes in the drainage tunnel had been renewed in 2004, the Lion Monument was finally placed under federal protection on October 20, 2006.

Drinking fountain from 1945

A drinking fountain with a pipe designed in the shape of a snake's head dates from 1945. The fountain trough is made of sandstone and rests on a base made of rubble stones.

On the night of January 18-19, 2009, strangers carried out an attack on the Lucerne Lion Monument with red paint that covered several square meters of the lion's fragile stone surface and the writing field below. A day later, an anonymous letter of confession appeared on a website from the political left. The solvent-resistant color concentrate used made dry cleaning with a low-pressure particle blasting device necessary. The inscription in particular was so badly damaged during the attack that it had to be rewritten.

From monument to sight: the lion monument as a tourist attraction

The monument and its surroundings around 1840 (Wilhelm Ulrich Oppermann)

The lion monument, which is visited annually by around 1.4 million tourists, is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in Lucerne. Since its inauguration in 1821, it has been a place that has attracted strangers. In this context, travel guides were instrumental early on, listing the lion monument among the sights of Lucerne. Before the monument was erected, the area was undeveloped swamp and alluvial land with rock faces and individual groups of trees. It was only built into today's Weyquartier from 1870 onwards.

The lion owes its popularity to a large extent to the fact that it was not clearly (and still is not) exactly what it stands for. The monument, conceived as a memorial for the fallen and still living participants in the Tuileries Tower on August 10, 1792, was not able to easily reveal its purpose to the visitors. For this reason, the client paid a special Swiss Guard veteran to explain the importance of the monument to the people. When there were no longer any participants left who could take on this mediating role, the Lion Monument Museum was opened next door in 1885, although it had to close in 1895 due to lack of interest.

While the lion was only able to win over tourists to a limited extent as a monument, it was its artistic character that fascinated people from the start: Not the bloody events of August 10, 1792, but «Thorvaldsen's classicist version, that of the mighty, powerful and In its silhouette, giving such noble lions anthropomorphic facial features suffering in pain of death »drew the visitor under its spell. In order to be able to see the lion as closely as possible, the visitors were taken to the monument on a gondola.

Along with the increasing number of visitors, the commercialization of the lion monument began early on . As early as 1822, Thorvaldsen's large plaster model of the lion was presented to visitors in a souvenir pavilion, where all kinds of writings, photographs and postcards could also be purchased. The lion was soon available in all sizes and materials - as a chocolate lion, salon jewelry and paperweight. Today it is the emblem of Lucerne tourism par excellence.

  • postcard

  • postcard

  • postcard

  • Printmaking

  • Prints dedicated to the subscribers

reception

Lion of the Confederacy in Oakland Cemetery , Atlanta

From Mark Twain's semi-fictional, satirical travelogue A Tramp Abroad (strolling through Europe), published in 1880, comes the observation that the Lucerne lion is the saddest and most moving piece of stone in the world ([…] the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world [...]). This impression would be supported by the quiet surroundings with the trees and the pond. Of course, you have to visit the memorial at the original location.

The Lion of the Confederacy by Thomas M. Brady (1849-1907) at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta , unveiled in 1894, is modeled on the Lucerne lion.

A model of the monument can be found in the Swissminiatur leisure facility in Melide, Canton Ticino.

literature

  • Peter Felder: The Lion Monument in Lucerne. Commission publisher Eugen Haag, Lucerne 1964.
  • André Meyer, Jürg Stüssi-Lauterburg: The dying lion or the creation of a monument in Lucerne and the events of August 10, 1792 (= Central Swiss treasure chest . Volume 23). Lucerne 2019.
  • Andreas Bürgi: A tourist picture factory. Commerce, pleasure and instruction at Lucerne's Löwenplatz, 1850–1914. Chronos Verlag, Zurich 2016, ISBN 978-3-0340-1296-6 .
  • Michael Riedler: Idyllic Lucerne. Reuss, Luzern 1987, ISBN 3-907596-01-3 .
  • Wolfgang Friedrich von Mülinen: The French Swiss Guard Regiment on August 10, 1792 . 1st edition. Salzwasser, Paderborn 2012, ISBN 978-3-86382-868-4 , p. 65-67 etc . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  • Society for Swiss Art History (Ed.): The art monuments of Switzerland . Volume II: Adolf Reinle: The City of Lucerne . I. part. Verlag Birkhäuser, Basel 1953, pp. 117–120.

Web links

Commons : Lion Monument Lucerne  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Luzern Tourismus AG: The Lion Monument - a memorial with charisma. Retrieved July 10, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Vitus Wey, Martin Hüppi: The Lion Monument in Lucerne. (PDF) pp. 4–6 , accessed on February 25, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Claudia Göpel: The Lion of Lucerne - an impressive piece of stone cultural history. In: Denkmalpflege-Schweiz.ch, article from August 28, 2014, accessed on April 21, 2019.
  4. ^ Text of the Latin inscription with German translation on maison-du-chapeau.ch. Accessed April 21, 2019.
  5. ↑ a b Entry on lucernewater.ch (interactive map), accessed on June 21, 2020.
  6. ↑ Jana Avanzini: You fished for money in front of the lion monument - and found up to 600 francs in the pond every day , article on the website of the Luzerner Zeitung (February 7, 2019), accessed on April 29, 2019
  7. ↑ City of Lucerne: Lion Monument, restoration measures for the monument and the park . Report of September 5, 2007 p. 4 (PDF), accessed June 21, 2020
  8. ↑ Claudia Hermann, Ruedi Meier, Josef Brülisauer (eds.): Löwen-Denk-Mal. From the fate of the Swiss Guard to a tourist attraction . Lucerne 1993, p. 23–25 (booklet accompanying the special exhibition in the Historical Museum Lucerne, September 22 to November 7, 1993).
  9. ↑ Peter Felder: The Lion Monument of Lucerne (=  Lucerne through the ages . No. 31 ). Lucerne 1964, p. 11-19 .
  10. ↑ a b Andreas Bürgi: A tourist picture factory. Commerce, pleasure and instruction at Lucerne's Löwenplatz, 1850–1914 . With the collaboration of Philipp Flury and Claudia Hermann. Zurich 2016, p. 19 .
  11. ↑ a b c d e f Peter Felder: The Lion Monument of Lucerne . In: Lucerne through the ages . tape 31 . Commission publisher Eugen Haag, Lucerne 1964, p. 32-34 .
  12. ↑ Vanessa Naef: Letter of responsibility after the attack on lions. 20 Minuten, January 19, 2009, accessed August 6, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Lion Monument is difficult to clean | NZZ . January 26, 2009, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed on August 6, 2019]).
  14. ↑ Vitus Wey, Martin Hüppi: The Lion Monument in Lucerne. (PDF) May 18, 2009, p. 11 , accessed on August 6, 2019 .
  15. ^ Claudia Hermann: The Lion Monument in Lucerne . In: Art and Architecture in Switzerland. Patriarchal wall painting in the 20th century . tape 1 , 2004, p. 52 .
  16. ↑ a b Andreas Bürgi: A tourist picture factory. Commerce, pleasure and instruction at Lucerne's Löwenplatz, 1850–1914 . Zurich 2016, p. 16 .
  17. ^ Andreas Bürgi: A tourist picture factory. Commerce, pleasure and instruction at Lucerne's Löwenplatz, 1850–1914 . Zurich 2016, p. 17 .
  18. ↑ Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad . American Publishing Company, 1880 on Wikisource, for the quote see also: The Lion Monument - a memorial with charisma. on luzern.com (accessed April 22, 2019).
  19. ↑ Entry on Find a Grave (first name, life data)
  20. ↑ Cathy J. Kaemmerlen: The Historic Oakland Cemetery of Atlanta: Speaking Stones Arcadia Publishing, 2013 (first published 2007). Unpaginated, section: ATLANTA'S LION OF THE CONFEDERACY. ISBN 978-1-62584-420-0 .
  21. ↑ The Lion Monument on the Swissminiatur website , accessed on April 20, 2019.

Coordinates: 47 ° 3 ′ 30 "  N , 8 ° 18 ′ 38"  E ; CH1903:  666242  /  two hundred and twelve thousand two hundred ninety-one