List of copies of the Braunschweig lion

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The original of the Brunswick Lion from the 12th century ⊙

In the list of copies of the Braunschweiger Löwen all fifteen 1: 1 copies of the Braunschweiger Löwen are listed, of which twelve have been preserved. The first was created in 1873 and is in London , the last one in 2014, it is in Lübstorf .

The Welf Heinrich the Lion , Duke of Saxony and Bavaria , had the statue of a lion erected as a symbol of power and rule in his residence city of Braunschweig on the Burgplatz , directly in front of Dankwarderode Castle and the north side of the Braunschweig Cathedral . Several medieval chroniclers mentioned it as early as the 13th century.

The original bronze cast from the second half of the 12th century weighs 880 kg, has a maximum height of 1.78 m and a length of 2.79 m. The maximum wall thickness is 12 mm. The sculpture was created after Peter Seiler between 1163 and 1181, after Bernd Schneidmüller between 1164 and 1176. The casting master (or possibly the casting master) who created it is unknown. It is very likely that the statue was cast on site, possibly even at the later installation site directly in front of Dankwarderode Castle. For various reasons, several copies of the lion have been made since the late 19th century, all but three of which have survived.

During the Second World War , the original stood unprotected on Burgplatz in the center of the city until 1943, which at that time had already been the target of several bombings by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces . It is the sole merit of the Braunschweig State Curator Kurt Seeleke that the lion was exchanged for a copy from 1936 in 1943 - without consulting the superior office and without informing the local NSDAP leadership. The original lion was walled up in a tunnel in the Rammelsberg ore mine in the Harz Mountains , 50 km south of the city , where it survived the war unscathed. On October 23, 1945 the lion returned to Braunschweig accompanied by Seelekes.

Since July 9, 1980, one of the two copies made in 1936 has been in place of the original on Burgplatz in order to protect the latter from further harmful environmental influences. Subsequently, the original was extensively restored between 1980 and 1983 , whereby a large number of metallurgical and chemical investigations were carried out, on the one hand to fathom the genesis of the plastic, but also to analyze material samples . The original can be viewed since 1989 in Dankwarderode Castle, which today serves as a branch of the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum .

Installation site year annotation
Sculpture, Victoria & Albert Museum, London - DSCF0352.JPG London , Victoria and Albert Museum ⊙ 1873 Apparently the first 1: 1 copy of the Braunschweiger Löwen. The statue is made of plaster of paris painted black . It was made by the Braunschweig sculptor and ore caster Georg Ferdinand Howaldt and bought directly from the Victoria and Albert Museum for 200 thalers.
Lion monument at Ratzeburg Cathedral.jpg Ratzeburg , Cathedral ⊙ 1881 Memory of Heinrich the Lion, 1154 re-founder of the Ratzeburg diocese after it was destroyed by the Slavs in the 11th century . The Ratzeburg Cathedral , along with those in Braunschweig , Lübeck and Schwerin, is one of the "Löwendomen", those that were founded by Heinrich the Lion.
Goslar Kaiserpfalz with Braunschweiger Loewen (2006) .JPG Goslar , Imperial Palatinate ⊙ 1900 On the lawn in front of the Kaiserpfalz, two copies of the Braunschweig lion face each other on the two outside stairs and look at each other. The equestrian statues of Kaiser Wilhelm I and Kaiser Barbarossa can also be seen in front of it .
Lion in courtyard, Harvard University.jpg Cambridge, MA , Harvard University ⊙ 1913 The copy is a gift from the Duchy of Braunschweig to the Germanic Museum of the University, today the Busch-Reisinger Museum . It is in the garden of the Adolphus Busch Hall . On the base is the inscription: The Duchy of Braunschweig, under the reign of Duke Johann Albrecht zu Mecklenburg, dedicates this replica of the statue made by Duke Heinrich the Lion in the XIIth to the Germanic Museum in Cambridge . Bronze lions erected on Burgplatz in Braunschweig in the 19th century
Lübstorf , Wiligrad Castle ⊙ 1913 / 14-1945 Residence of Duke Johann Albrechts zu Mecklenburg . Honorary gift from Duke Ernst August of Braunschweig and Lüneburg for the outgoing regent of the Duchy of Braunschweig . This copy has been thought to have been lost in the turmoil of the immediate war and post-war period since 1945. In 2014, a replica was built at the original site.
Blankenburg - castle with baroque garden.jpg Blankenburg , palace garden ⊙ 1915 Blankenburg Castle belonged to the Brunswick Welfenhaus for centuries. The lion was placed in the palace garden (far right in the picture).
HL Then - Monument - Heinrich the Lion - Museum am Dom.jpg Lübeck , Cathedral ⊙ 1930-1942 At the instigation of the director of the Museum am Dom , Willibald Leo von Lütgendorff-Leinburg , the sculptor Otto Mantzel worked out a free copy of about ¾ of the original size from an artificial basalt block . Consequently, this was to be regarded as an original work piece. The pedestal was made of artificial Odenwald sandstone . The unveiling took place on October 9, 1930 at the point in the museum garden that the Duke probably first entered when the cathedral was founded, on the wooded hill near the Trave. During the celebration, the memorial was handed over to the director of the non-profit society , Adolf Ihde .

The Lübeck Cathedral, along with those in Braunschweig, Ratzeburg and Schwerin, is one of the "Löwendomen", those are those that were founded by Heinrich the Lion. The memorial was destroyed in World War II.

In 1975 a new copy was erected on the other side of the cathedral .

20180225 BraunschweigerLoewe DSC08433 PtrQs.jpg Braunschweig , Burgplatz ⊙ 1936 This copy was made on the order of the Brunswick State Ministry of a newly made 1: 1 plaster model of the Berlin foundry Hermann Noack . Since 1980, this copy has replaced the original from the 12th century, which has been on display in Dankwarderode Castle since 1989 after three years of restoration due to increasing air pollution .
Brunswick Lion (copy) 1.jpg Braunschweig , State Museum ⊙ 1936 Another copy in Braunschweig. It stood in the atrium of the State Museum until around 2015 .
photo Carinhall ⊙ 1937-1948 Gift for the NSDAP politician and later head of the Reichswerke Hermann Göring , Hermann Göring, which was just founded near Braunschweig, on his 44th birthday from Dietrich Klagges , NSDAP Prime Minister of the Free State of Braunschweig . Göring had the statue set up in Carinhall , his private residence in the Schorfheide . The lion survived World War II unscathed, but was melted down in 1948.
Lion Monument at Lübeck Cathedral.jpg Lübeck , Cathedral ⊙ 1975 Not far from where it is today, a first copy was erected on the other side of the cathedral in 1930, which was destroyed in the Second World War. The second copy from 1975 was donated by the Elfriede Dräger Memorial Foundation.
Schwerin Cathedral Braunschweiger Löwe 2012-11-26 014.JPG Schwerin , Dom ⊙ 1995 The copy was placed on the west side of the cathedral on the occasion of Mecklenburg's 1000th anniversary . The Schwerin Cathedral, along with those in Braunschweig, Lübeck and Ratzeburg, is one of the "Löwendomen", i.e. the cathedrals that were founded by Heinrich the Lion.
88250 Weingarten, Germany - panoramio.jpg Vineyard , abbey ⊙ 1999 The lion stands in an inner courtyard of the monastery and is intended to remind you that the village of Altdorf was the ancestral seat of the Guelphs from the 9th to 11th centuries. The monument was donated by the Upper Swabian Electricity Works Association.
Wiligrad Castle 006.jpg Lübstorf , Wiligrad Castle ⊙ 2014 Former residence of Duke Johann Albrechts zu Mecklenburg. A first copy of the lion from 1913/14 was a gift of honor from Duke Ernst August of Braunschweig and Lüneburg for the outgoing regent of the Duchy of Braunschweig. After this was lost around 1945 in the turmoil of the immediate war and post-war period, a replica was built at the original site in 2014.

literature

  • Brage bei der Wieden , Jochen Luckhardt , Heike Pöppelmann (eds.): 850 years of the Braunschweiger Löwe. Documentation of the conference on March 10 and 11, 2017 (= supplements to the Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch ), Appelhans, Braunschweig 2019, ISBN 978-3-944939-38-4 .
  • Jochen Luckhardt, Franz Niehoff (ed.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Rule and representation of the Guelphs 1125–1235. Exhibition catalog. 3 volumes. Hirmer, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7774-6690-5 .
    • Peter Seller: The Braunschweiger Burglöwe - securing evidence in search of artistic role models. In: Volume 2: Essays. 1995, pp. 244-255 ( archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de PDF).
  • Gerd Spies (Ed.): The Braunschweiger Löwe. (= Braunschweiger Werkstücke. Volume 62 = Series B): Publications from the Municipal Museum. Volume 6, Städtisches Museum, Braunschweig 1985.

Web links

Commons : Copies of the Braunschweiger Löwen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ingrid Reindell: Restoration of the Castle Lion of Braunschweig (June 1981 - March 1983). In: Gerd Spies (Ed.): The Braunschweiger Löwe. P. 117.
  2. ↑ Peter Seiler: The Braunschweiger Burglöwe - Securing evidence in search of artistic models. In: Luckhardt, Niehoff (Hrsg.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Volume 2 (Essays), p. 244.
  3. ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller: The Welfs. Reign and memory (819–1252). Stuttgart 2000, p. 218.
  4. ↑ Hans Drescher : On the casting technique of the Braunschweiger Burglöwen. In: Gerd Spies (Ed.): The Braunschweiger Löwe. P. 351.
  5. ↑ Werner Schneider: Does the sedimentary content of the Braunschweig lion give any indication of its place of manufacture? In: Gerd Spies (Ed.): The Braunschweiger Löwe. P. 279.
  6. ↑ a b Gerd Spies: The Brunswick lion. In: Gerd Spies (Ed.): The Braunschweiger Löwe. P. 26.
  7. ↑ Jochen Luckhardt, Franz Niehoff (ed.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Rule and representation of the Guelphs 1125–1235. Exhibition catalog. Volume 3: Afterlife Department. Hirmer, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7774-6690-5 , p. 99.
  8. ↑ Gerd Spies: The Brunswick lion. In: Gerd Spies (Ed.): The Braunschweiger Löwe. P. 27.
  9. ↑ Gerd Spies: Thanks. In: Gerd Spies (Ed.): The Braunschweiger Löwe.
  10. ↑ Copy of a Lion data sheet on collections.vam.ac.uk
  11. ↑ Brunswick Lion , official video of the Victoria and Albert Museum on facebook.com.
  12. ↑ Jochen Luckhardt, Franz Niehoff (ed.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Rule and representation of the Guelphs 1125–1235. Volume 3: Afterlife Department. P. 72.
  13. ↑ Joachim Ehlers : Heinrich the lion. Biography. Siedler, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-88680-787-1 , p. 88.
  14. ^ NN : Harvard University Handbook. An Official Guide to the Grounds, Buildings, Libraries, Museums, and Laboratories. Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1936, p. 76.
  15. ↑ Hidden spaces: Adolphus Busch Courtyard Information on the Adolphus Busch Courtyard and photos of the lion at news.harvard.edu.
  16. ^ Bernhard Kiekenap : Karl and Wilhelm. The sons of the Black Duke. Volume III: Braunschweig after 1848, Duke Wilhelm and the regents. Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2004, ISBN 3-937664-07-6 , p. 305.
  17. ↑ Monument to Heinrich the Lion, the second founder of Lübeck. In: Lübeckische advertisements , year 1930, no.237, issue of October 10, 1930.
  18. ↑ Chronicle. In: Vaterstädtische Blätter , year 1930/31, No. 2, edition of October 25, 1930, p. 8.
  19. ↑ Gerd Spies: The Brunswick lion. In: Gerd Spies (Ed.): The Braunschweiger Löwe. P. 25.
  20. ^ Norman-Mathias Pingel: Burglöwe. In: Luitgard Camerer , Manfred Garzmann , Wolf-Dieter Schuegraf (eds.): Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon . Joh. Heinr. Meyer Verlag, Braunschweig 1992, ISBN 3-926701-14-5 , p. 53 .
  21. ↑ Volker button, Stefan Martens: Görings Reich. Self-presentations in Carinhall. Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86153-392-4 , p. 155, see also files at BLHA , Rep 204 A.
  22. ↑ Jochen Luckhardt, Franz Niehoff (ed.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Rule and representation of the Guelphs 1125–1235. Volume 3: Afterlife Department. P. 247.