Monarch hill

This article deals with the hill in the southeast of Leipzig. For the hill of the same name south of Großgörschen , part of Lützen in the Burgenland district , see Monarchenhügel near Großgörschen .

Monument in the form of a black obelisk on the monarch's hill

The Monarch Hill is 159 meters above sea level is the second highest natural point in the Leipzig city area after the Gallows Hill in Liebertwolkwitz with 163 meters. It is located in the southeast of the city, east of the Meusdorf district, in an area that belongs to the Liebertwolkwitz district and is largely built up. He wears a memorial that commemorates the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig , when the three Allied monarchs observed the course of the battle from here and learned of Napoleon's retreat.

The monument

The monument on the Monarch's Hill is a black obelisk made of cast iron plates over two meters high. It rests on a two-tier pedestal made from the same material. The whole thing is built on a truncated pyramid-shaped base made of cement-plastered fieldstones with a sandstone top.

The inscriptions on the obelisk read " 18 OCTOBER 1813 " on the west side and " ERECTED IN 1847. THE ASSOCIATION TO CELEBRATE 19 OCTOBER " on the east side . At the foot of the monument there is a stone slab with the inscription “ The allied monarchs EMPEROR FRANZ I of OESTERREICH stayed here in the battle near Leipzig on October 18, 1813 | EMPEROR ALEXANDER of RUSSIA | KOENIG FRIEDR. WILHELM III. von PRUSSEN and were witnesses of the extraordinary bravery of their troops. "

history

Schwarzenberg reports the monarchs Alexander I (left), Franz I (center) and Friedrich Wilhelm III. Napoleon's defeat in the Battle of Nations on Monarch Hill. Copy of a painting by Johann Peter Krafft 1817.

On October 18, 1813, the three allied monarchs, Emperor Franz I of Austria , Emperor Alexander I of Russia and King Friedrich Wilhelm III, watched from the hill . von Prussia together with the Commander-in-Chief Karl Philipp Prince zu Schwarzenberg the course of the battle. The latter gave the order for the next day in the evening. Incoming reports about the successes achieved so far announced the impending defeat of Napoleon, whose troops had already begun to withdraw to the west.

A year later, on October 18, 1814, Russian troops returning from France, with the participation of numerous citizens, held a spiritual office for the previous year on the still nameless hill, for which the name Monarch Hill soon became naturalized. In 1824 the Russian consul general Wilhelm von Freygang , the Leipzig councilor Christian Ludwig Stieglitz and the Saxon military historian Carl Heinrich Aster suggested building a memorial in the form of a Gothic chapel on the monarch's hill. Twenty years later, to celebrate October 19th, the association took up the suggestion, at least concerning the location, and erected a memorial on the still undeveloped Monarch's Hill, which was inaugurated on October 19th, 1847. It was the first major memorial for the Battle of Nations in the Leipzig area. It already had the shape of today's monument and consisted of cast iron plates and not sandstone, as is described in some places. Until the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Nations, the images show the monument on the ground floor, only then was the field stone substructure.

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  The inauguration of the monument in 1847

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  The "Monarch Hill Restaurant"

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  The presentation of the bones

There have been a few changes over the 150 years of its existence. Symbols like a golden wreath, a pair of entwined hands, the eye of God and a cross disappeared from the side panels. For some time, 126 cannonballs of various calibers were attached to the pedestal and the facility was enclosed by meter-high sandstone pillars decorated with cannonballs and connected with chains. This enclosure was removed during the renovation in 1952/1953. The last renovation took place in 2002, during which some parts had to be remade.

Until 1940 the "Gasthaus zum Monarchenhügel" was operated on the road leading over the Monarchenhügel, in which there was also a memorial collection. In the garden of the inn there was a small memorial building in which the bones of those who died in the Battle of Nations were displayed in the summer months from around 1820 to 1900.

literature

• Markus Cottin, Gina Klank, Karl-Heinz Kretzschmar, Dieter Kürschner, Ilona Petzold: Leipzig monuments . Sax-Verlag Beucha 2009, ISBN 978-3-86729-036-4 , Volume 2, pp. 94/95
• Christian Gottlob Leberecht Großmann: Speech on the consecration of the monument on the Monarchenhügel near Liebertwolkwitz on October 19th, 1847. Fleischer: Leipzig, 1847.
• Peters: The monuments on the battlefield in Leipzig. Captain: Leipzig, 1848.

Web links

Commons : Monarchs Mound  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Leipzig online
2. ↑ Leipzig monuments , p. 94
3. ↑ Leipzig monuments , p. 95
4. ↑ The skull hall from the Battle of the Nations. In: Picture from August 18, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2015 . 

Coordinates: 51 ° 17 ′ 32 "  N , 12 ° 26 ′ 39"  E