Luisendenkmal (Königsberg)
The Luis monument stood in the Lusalt'schen Hufengarten, the later Imperial Park Luisenwahl in the district of Hufen in Königsberg , today's Kaliningrad . A committee of the citizens of Königsberg had the exedra bench built with a pergola and decorative vases, in the middle of which a bust of Queen Luise of Prussia was embedded in a medallion .
History of origin
In 1796, the then church and school councilor Christoph Wilhelm Busolt acquired the Pojenters estate, which was then outside the city, and named it “Louisenwahl” in honor of his wife. When the Prussian royal couple Friedrich Wilhelm III. and Luise resided in Königsberg during the French occupation of Berlin from 1807 to 1809, Busolt made the "Louisenwahl" estate available to him as a summer residence.
As you all over Germany to the return of the victorious troops from the Franco-German War 1871 Peace Trees began, the police chief suggested in Koenigsberg Adolf von Pilgrim to, on hooves Garden , the popular wisdom already "Luis choice" called to plant a Friedenslinde. With the approval of the property, a young peace linden tree was planted in front of Luise's favorite place in the Hufengarten . At the same time, the thought arose in Königsberg of donating a commemorative token to Luise in Luisenwahl. When the Hufengarten was sold in 1872, Kaiser Wilhelm I purchased the property in memory of his mother. As an Imperial Park, the large garden was open to the public.
The preparations for Sedan Day on September 2, 1872, which was to be celebrated as a peace festival in Königsberg, were organized by a committee headed by Police President Pilgrim. Other members were Police Council Jagielski, City Commandant General von Baumgarth, the Lord Mayor of Königsberg, Kommerzienrat Stephan, Privy Medical Councilor Dr. Burow, comedy poet Ernst Wichert , editor-in-chief Dr. Julius Mühlfeld , as well as various manufacturers and master craftsmen. In order to give the peace festival a special attraction, the committee decided to donate an enclosure to the peace linden tree as a memorial for Queen Luise. In this way, the ruined bench could be renewed in monumental form and the promising place made into a resting place for tired hikers.
During the celebrations for Sedan Day in 1872, "thousands of participants" saw the laying of the foundation stone for this monument.
When Wilhelm I stopped in Königsberg on a trip to St. Petersburg in 1873, and also visited Luisenwahl on the occasion, the members of the committee informed him of their wishes. The emperor promptly agreed to donate a bust of his mother for the monument under construction. The bust, a replica of the master stonemason Bellert based on a bust by Christian Daniel Rauch , was inserted in the upper gallery of the pillars of the bank. The dedication inscription on the stone below the bust illustrates the intention of the donors:
The unforgettable Queen Luise /
The Königsberg citizens."
The inauguration of the monument took place on Sedan Day in 1874.
The bench still exists, but the bust was lost in the post-war chaos.
See also
literature
- Schroetter : Map of East Prussia together with Prussian Litthauen and West Prussia together with the network district. = Carte de la Prusse orientale et occidentale. Berlin, Schropp u. Comp., Undated (1802-1810), (reprint: Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden 1978, ISBN 3-515-02671-1 ).
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