Ludwigsmonument
The Ludwigsmonument (colloquially Langer Lui or Langer Ludwig ) is a monument to Ludwig I (also Ludewig I ), the first Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine and a landmark of the city of Darmstadt . It stands on Luisenplatz in Darmstadt, which is named after Grand Duchess Luise von Hessen-Darmstadt , the wife of Ludwig I. The building is usually called Langer Ludwig or Langer Lui by the inhabitants .
The monument
The foundation stone for the monument was laid on June 14, 1841, the birthday of Ludwig I and the 11th anniversary of his death. The building was inaugurated on August 25, 1844. The column was designed by Georg Moller and Balthasar Harres ; the statue of Ludwig Schwanthaler , cast by Johann Baptist Stiglmaier .
Which is located at the top of the monument, 5.45 m high and 5400 kg heavy statue of bronze represents Ludwig is I, the new constitution holds rolled up in his right hand the Grand Duchy of Hesse. His gaze is directed towards Rheinhessen on the lands newly acquired during his reign. The statue was donated as thanks for the adoption of the first Hessian constitution of 1820 and is now one of the most famous urban monuments. A spiral staircase leads through the column over 172 steps to the 30.04 m high viewing platform at the foot of the statue, the total height is 39.15 m. The access is ingenious - you don't reach the stairs through a door in the base, but through a trapdoor located outside the monument.
The entrance fees paid by the visitors flow into the voluntary work of the Red Cross Darmstadt-Mitte.
On the history of the monument
Design and choice of location
Today the Ludwigsmonument is next to the Ensemble Mathildenhöhe with its wedding tower one of the most famous landmarks of the city of Darmstadt and especially visible from afar in the west of the city. The actual history of the monument began in May 1837 when twelve Darmstadt citizens asked all residents of the Grand Duchy of Hesse to donate for the construction of a monument. It was to be dedicated to Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine, to whom the Grand Duchy of Hesse owed its greatest expansion and the Darmstadt residence to a new bloom. Ludwig I was to be honored with this monument not only as a benefactor of the state in general, but especially as the founder of the Hessian constitution of 1820.
Johann Baptist Scholl's design , which was more of a “colossal statue made of Carraic marble, standing on a Priedstal of gray marble, resting on a base of solid sandstone, bordered by four lions lying on corners”, was rejected, as was the design of a constitution fountain of the court architect and Mollerschule Georg Lerch, who wanted to do without a figurative representation of Ludwig I. The "Committee for the Execution of the Monument" formed in December 1837 under the direction of Prince August von Sayn-Wittgenstein decided against a monument in a more modest form in favor of a column monument. The original site, Mathildenplatz, was also no longer mentioned.
On June 1, 1839, Grand Duke Ludwig II approved the erection of the column monument on Luisenplatz, not without reason, because this square had become the new central square of the Residenz through the city expansion operated by Ludwig I and implemented by Georg Moller. But the memorial itself was given a new content, as the ruling Grand Duke and his conservative government had been pursuing a restoration policy that ran counter to the Hessian constitution for years. The constitutional monument was therefore rededicated as a prince monument, through which the first grand duke was glorified and symbolically elevated above his people. In contrast to the inscription in Scholl's draft, the base inscription does not speak of the constitution, but only of “grateful people”. And the constitutional charter in the right hand of the statue of the Grand Duke can hardly be seen even with binoculars. The not-too-large constitutional monument on a somewhat secluded square had now become a huge monument on the central square of the Residenz, which did not provoke unreserved applause from the citizens, even if the greetings and poems of homage at the time tried to create a different impression on the occasion of the unveiling .
Construction and unveiling
Work began in 1840. Georg Moller designed the sandstone column, which was executed by the court architect Arnold. Johann Baptist Scholl was responsible for the ornamental decoration of the column and the Munich sculptor Ludwig Schwanthaler was commissioned to design the statue . The foundation stone was laid on June 14, 1841, Ludwig's birthday, combined with a large pageant and a large parade on Luisenplatz. The base was erected in 1842 and the shaft of the column in 1843.
In the spring of 1844, the capital and the keystone followed as a base for the statue. On June 14th, the statue , which had meanwhile been completed by Johann Baptist Stiglmaier and transported to Darmstadt, was pulled up and put on top, weighing more than five tons.
The solemn unveiling of the Ludwig Monument was celebrated with one of the largest celebrations that Darmstadt had seen up to then. In the presence of everyone of rank and name, the celebration took place for several days. In addition to a large folk festival on the parade ground, Darmstadt was already living up to its reputation as a city of culture: Handel's Alexanderfest was performed in the armory by 600 singers and on another day the opera Ferdinand Cortez by Johann Friedrich Naue in the court theater.
World War II and post-war period
The Ludwigsmonument survived the renaming of its location to “Adolf-Hitler-Platz”, emerged relatively undamaged from the destruction of the area in the night of the fire in 1944 and looked down on a desert of ruins and rubble for years. On February 20, 1950, the master roofer Ackermann succeeded in putting a fool's cap on the statue. This first ascent got an unexpected meaning because Ackermann noticed holes in the statue from projectile impacts, which let rainwater seep into the foundation and endangered the stability of the monument.
The war damage was repaired in 1952 and 1953. In the following years, the pillar achieved rather sad notoriety when suicides fell from it four times , which led to the closure of the viewing platform on February 15, 1956. After taking security measures, it was reopened in the summer of 1958. After being closed again, it has been open on certain festive days since 1975, for example during the Heinerfest .
Due to the increasing traffic chaos on Luisenplatz, calls were made in 1973 for the demolition or relocation of this Darmstadt landmark , which however remained unsuccessful. By moving car traffic underground and transforming the square into a pedestrian zone between 1978 and 1980, the traffic problem was finally solved.
literature
- Paul-Hermann Gruner, Albrecht Haag: Der Lui: For the 175th birthday of the Ludwig Monument in Darmstadt , Justus-von-Liebig-Verlag, Darmstadt 2019, ISBN 978-3-873904194 .
- Christine Klein: "The column in the middle of the loyal residence" The Ludwig monument in Darmstadt as a constitutional monument. In: Hessian homeland. Volume 2/3, 1988, pp. 59-66.
- Peter Engels: Small story of a great monument. The Ludewigsmonument in Darmstadt. published by the Darmstädter Förderkreis Kultur e. V. 3rd, revised edition. Darmstadt 2006.
- N / A: The Lange Lui in Darmstadt, for his 150th birthday. In: Darmstädter Echo. June 14, 1991, p. 13.
Web links
- Original text of the constitutional document for the Grand Duchy of Hesse from December 17, 1820 (on documentArchiv.de)
- Information on the Ludwig Monument on the website of the city of Darmstadt
- Website of the DRK on the Ludwig Monument
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Ludwig Monument on the website of the German Red Cross, local association Darmstadt-Mitte
Coordinates: 49 ° 52 ′ 22 " N , 8 ° 39 ′ 4" E