Napoleon Stone (Leipzig)

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The Napoleon Stone

The Napoleon Stone is a monument in Leipzig that commemorates the Battle of the Nations in October 1813.

The monument is located at the point from which Napoleon observed and directed the battles of the Battle of Nations on October 18, in particular that of Probstheida . It is located on a hill, the Marienhöhe, near the Marienquelle between the former villages of Stötteritz , Probstheida and Connewitz on the corridor belonging to Thonberg . The Quandt tobacco mill , which was destroyed in the fighting, stood at this height . Napoleon is said to have given the order to retreat here in the afternoon, then fell asleep on a field chair and then left the hill in the direction of Leipzig in the dark.

As early as 1832, interested citizens had set up a simple, unlabeled sandstone at this point as a souvenir. The present monument was erected by the association to celebrate October 19 and inaugurated on October 25, 1857. It is the sixth of seven monuments erected by this association. It consists of a reddish granite cuboid with a base and cover plate that rests on a mound. On two opposite pages it bears the inscriptions: “Here Napoleon stayed on October 18, 1813, watching the battles of the Battle of Nations” and “Location of the former Quandt tobacco mill, Napoleon's command post”. On top of the stone are the replicas of the emperor's hat and telescope on a pillow, and earlier also those of his sword. The monument is surrounded by a lattice fence with twelve columns.

On old pictures you can still see the unobstructed view of the former battlefield and the city as well as a small hut nearby, which was built in 1862 and which served the overseer of the monument. The surrounding park trees now enclose the monument. The Napoleon Stone has lost its attraction because of its large neighbor, the Völkerschlachtdenkmal 450 meters away .

Napoleonstein restaurant

"Napoleonstein" was also the name of a popular beer and garden bar on Reitzenhainer Straße (now Prager Straße), about 350 meters to the northeast from the Napoleonstein monument. It was run by the Bertsch family from 1889 until it burned out in 1943. This owned a private collection on the Battle of Nations and the Napoleonic era with at last 18,000 pieces, which was open daily as an important historical museum for the Battle of Nations. After two failed attempts to re-establish a restaurant here in the second half of the 20th century, the "Napoleonstein" residential complex was built on the property in 1995/1996.

Web links

Commons : Napoleonstein  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Theodor Apel : Guide to the battlefields of Leipzig in October 1813 and their landmarks. Hoffmann, Leipzig 1863, p. 86
  2. a b c R. Naumann: The Napoleon stone on the Thonberge near Leipzig , Leipzig 1871, as a pdf
  3. ^ Horst Riedel: Stadtlexikon Leipzig from A to Z. PRO LEIPZIG 2005, ISBN 3-936508-03-8 , p. 424.
  4. Reinhard Münch: Landmarks and monuments of the Battle of Nations in and around Leipzig. Barthel, Panitzsch 2000, ISBN 3-910188-28-1 , p. 11
  5. Gasthof Napoleonstein in the Leipzig Lexicon

Coordinates: 51 ° 18 ′ 49.5 ″  N , 12 ° 24 ′ 25.6 ″  E