Leopold Column (Frankfurt am Main)

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Leopold Column in Frankfurt am Main - Seckbach , erected on the Wartfeld in 1790 in honor of Emperor Leopold II (HRR)
Contemporary illustration from: Complete diary of the Roman-Royal Election and Imperial Coronation of your now most gloriously ruling Imperial Majesty Leopold the Second , Im Verlag der Jägerische Buchhandlung, Frankfurt am Main, 1791
Carved inscription on the Leopold Column in Latin

The Leopold Column in Frankfurt am Main - Seckbach is a memorial for Leopold II. Leopold II was born as the ninth child of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria and the Roman-German Emperor Franz Stephan of Lorraine .

history

The column was erected in 1790 in honor of the penultimate Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation who was elected on September 30th and crowned on October 9th in the Frankfurt Imperial Cathedral of St. Bartholomew .

The participants in the coronation celebrations included, among many others, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , the later Prince Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich and the later Prince Karl Philipp zu Schwarzenberg as first sergeant of the Imperial Arcièren bodyguard .

The erection of the honorary column for Leopold II took place on the initiative and at the request of Landgrave Wilhelm IX. von Hessen-Kassel, later Elector Wilhelm I of Hessen-Kassel . This was from September 23 to October 17, 1790 with a force of 6,000 men in the army camp on the Wartfeld surrounding the Berger Warte to secure the Frankfurt election against French troops.

The Landgrave had speculated on the award of the dignity of an elector and therefore offered to secure the election of emperor and the coronation carried out a few days later in the Frankfurt Imperial Cathedral of St. Bartolomew.

The army camp set up for this occasion stretched for almost two kilometers from Landgraben in Bergen to the junction of today's Alte Frankfurter Strasse from Friedberger Landstrasse . At the rear of the camp was the former headquarters of the troop command. It can be located on the site of the Seckbach substation that is now located at this point.

Exact site plans of this army camp can still be viewed today in the Hessian State Archives in Marburg:

" Plan. That of a part of the Hochfürstlich Hessischen troops under highest own leadership and. Commando Sr. Hochfürstl. Transmission by the ruling Lord Landgrave Wilhelm IX from 23rd Sept. - 17th Oct. 1790 to cover the election and coronation of Emperor Leopold II's camp near Bergen "

and in a later copy:

" Plan. That of a part of the High Princely Hessian troops under the leadership of the then ruling Landgrave Wilhelm IX for the security of the electoral city of Frankfurt, the electoral college, and the electoral head of the Reich at that time, occupied camp near Bergen, and the maneuvers carried out there from September 23 to d. 17th October 1790 "

There was an acoustic exchange between the Wartfeld and Frankfurt on the occasion of Leopold II's election as emperor, when salutes were fired from 300 Frankfurt guns on September 30th for the election of Emperor. The Hessen-Kassel troops of Wilhelm IX. answered from the Wartfeld with a salvo of 21 guns.

Exactly opposite the Leopold Column, the Landgrave received the imperial couple and the electors for dinner on October 11, two days after the coronation ceremony, with a retinue of 126 men. 40,000 onlookers are said to have been present. The feast took place in specially erected Turkish tents. A tent stone is still there and can be viewed right next to the Leopold Column (see enlargement of the photo at the top).

The Leopold Column was moved together with the Zeltstein to its northwest corner because of the construction of the substation in 1962. The memorial is therefore no longer exactly on the historical site. In order to get an exact impression of the historical situation, one must refer to the plans of the army camp mentioned in the Marburg State Archives.

Choice of location

Berger Warte in Frankfurt am Main - Seckbach , first mentioned in a document in 1340 as a Geierswarte

To today's viewers, because of its remoteness, the placement of the Leopold Column, which may initially appear unusual, is less explained by the proximity to the Berger Warte.

The real reason for their positioning at this location is likely to be the historical fact that the Wartfeld has repeatedly been a deployment area and army camp for troops. In addition, the area around Bergen was a battlefield during the Seven Years' War on Good Friday in 1759. A 35,000-strong French army fought against 28,000 Prussian soldiers under Duke Ferdinand von Braunschweig , brother-in-law of Frederick the Great . More than 1,000 men were killed and 5,000 were wounded. This historic event was commemorated on the 250th anniversary in 2009. The placement of the column may also have been a symbolic act to the extent that one wanted to set a visible sign with reference to the will to fight during the current war against the French at that time (1790).

Another reason for the erection of the Leopold Column at this very place may have been that the Berger Warte stands at 212.4 meters above sea level (dominance 11.45 km, prominence 50 m), the highest point in today's Frankfurt city area.

In addition, roads of national importance passed by. The route called Hohe Strasse or Diebsgrundweg in Frankfurt goes back to the Altstrasse Via Regia , a historic trade route that led from Mainz via Frankfurt to Silesia . The Roman roads from Nida (Eselsweg) and probably from the Roman thermal baths near Bad Vilbel to Bergen also led over the Wartberg and the Wartfeld.

execution

The honorary column for Emperor Leopold II is a broken column on a square base, which was executed in the style of classicism and provided with a rich sculpture. A Latin inscription and a sign provide information about its historical significance.

environment

Pen drawing of the Berger Warte from 1820 by FP Usener
Sword of the executioner of the Berger Warte
Engraving in the sword of the executioner of the Berger Warte : If I lift up the sword - so I wish the sinner Eternal Life

The Leopold Column stood near the Berger Warte and the former High Court (Berger Galgen) of the Bornheimerberg office of the County of Hanau-Münzenberg near Vilbeler Landstrasse (B521) and the street Am Galgen on the boundary of the Frankfurt district of Seckbach.

The gallows, which was first mentioned in a document in 1340 and no longer exists today, was burned down in the Schmalkaldic War in 1552 and rebuilt in 1557 using a combination of stone and wood. An embedded stone with the date 1557 carved into the wall of the stairs. In 1732 the gallows was completely bricked up. After its demolition in 1834, the stones of the high court were used for the construction of an outer circular staircase of the Berger Warte , whose entrance was previously only accessible by laying a ladder.

The 2500 square meter ensemble of Berger Warte, Leopold Column and the former site of the gallows was redesigned in 1999 according to plans by the Frankfurt architecture firm Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch. In addition to the renovation of paths and squares, information boards were erected.

The historic Leopold Column and the Berger Warte monument are surrounded by a group of trees and bushes arranged in a ring, which, like its 25 meter radius, are under nature protection. The field wood consists mainly of field maple ( Acer campestre ), elder ( Sambucus ) and black locust ( Robinia pseudoacacia ). It is used for bird protection and offers nesting sites for numerous species. The pyramid poplars ( Populus nigra Italica ) historically documented at this point no longer exist.

The area around the Leopold Column and the Berger Warte has been registered with the EU as a fauna and flora habitat (FFH) since 2004 . It extends along the northern slope of the Berger Ridge and covers 29 hectares.

Nearby is also a small Jewish cemetery that was used from 1924 to 1942 and has recently been renovated and rebuilt.

Transport links

The Leopold Column can be reached on foot or by bike from Seckbach via Lohrberg , from Bergen and Bad Vilbel via Vilbeler Landstrasse . With each variant, there are sometimes considerable inclines to overcome. With local public transport, the RMV bus line 940, Berger Warte stop, serves as a feeder. From there, access is relatively at ground level.

See also

swell

literature

  • Gerteis, Walter: The unknown Frankfurt , Volume I., pp. 64-72, Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt, 1961, ISBN 3-920-346-05-X
  • Rochelmeyer, Folker: Seckbach und seine Umgebung, Frankfurter Sparkasse from 1822 - Polytechnische Gesellschaft (ed.), 1972, 84 p., Illustrated
  • Rochelmayer, Folker (chronicle): Festschrift 1100 Years Seckbach, 880-1980, Festschrift 1100 Years Seckbach e. V. (Ed.), 1980, 151 pp., Illustrated
  • Masala, Lino / Rödel, Volker / Risse, Heike / Schomann, Heinz: Monument topography City of Frankfurt am Main, Magistrat der Stadt Frankfurt, Untere Monument Authority (ed.), 1986, 798 pages, illustrated, ISBN 3-528-06238-X
  • Hamberger, JW: Oddities of the Roman election and coronation , Perthes, Gotha, 1790
  • Kohl, Gerald / Neschwara, Christian / Simon, Thomas (eds.): Ceremonial and Politics: The last two imperial coronations 1790 and 1792 in the mirror of the diaries , in: Festschrift for Wilhelm Brauneder for his 65th birthday , legal history with an international perspective , p. 89–102, Manz, Vienna, 2008
  • Plan. That of a part of the Hochfürstlich Hessischen troops under highest own leadership and. Commando Sr. Hochfürstl. Transmission by the ruling Lord Landgrave Wilhelm IX from 23rd Sept. - 17th Oct. 1790 to cover the election and coronation of the Emperor Leopold II. Camp at Bergen , Kleinhans, Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg, HStAM Karten WHK 40/53
  • Plan. That of a part of the High Princely Hessian troops under the leadership of the then ruling Landgrave Wilhelm IX for the security of the electoral city of Frankfurt, the electoral college, and the electoral head of the Reich at that time, occupied camp near Bergen, and the maneuvers carried out there from September 23 to d. 17th October 1790 , Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg, HStAM cards WHK 40 / 55a

Web links

Commons : Leopold Column  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 9 ′ 38.1 ″  N , 8 ° 44 ′ 0.8 ″  E