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87-626: The monument was constructed between 1838 and 1875 to commemorate the Cherusci war chief Arminius (in German, Hermann ) and his victory over Rome at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD. When the statue was built, its location was believed to be near the original battle site, although experts now consider it more likely that the battle took place near Kalkriese , about 100 km to

174-503: A Philhellene the Greek War of Independence , in which he provided a loan of 1.5 million florins from his private funds. In 1817 Ludwig was also involved in the fall of Prime Minister Count Max Josef von Montgelas whose policies he had opposed. He succeeded his father on the throne in 1825. Ludwig's rule was strongly affected by his enthusiasm for the arts and women and by his overreaching royal assertiveness. An enthusiast for

261-489: A few hundred per year, but by 1895 there were 20,500 visitors. In 1909, the 1900th anniversary of Arminius' battle was celebrated with a multi-day event (14 to 23 August), involving parades, costumes and re-enactments of the battle. Around 30,000 people attended the celebration on 15 August at the Grotenburg . Historian Hans Delbrück gave the keynote speech and the newly built Bandel Bench (financed by individual donations)

348-488: A jocular term for (male) Germans in general. Cherusci The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the plains and forests of northwestern Germania in the area of the Weser River and present-day Hanover during the first centuries BC and AD. Roman sources reported they considered themselves kin with other Irmino tribes and claimed common descent from an ancestor called Mannus . During

435-592: A long-distance relay race called Hermannslauf beginning at 16 different points all over Germany (such as Kulm , the Zugspitze or Flensburg ) and in which 120,000 runners participated. The final runners arrived at the Grotenburg on 16 August. The keynote speech of the celebration on 9 August was given by the head of the right-wing Der Stahlhelm , and other nationalist groups such as the Jungdeutscher Orden were also prominent. Tourism flourished in

522-607: A monument to Arminius. He considered building it near the Externsteine , but eventually settled on the Grotenburg , locally also sometimes referred to as Teutburg or Teutoburg . In 1837, an association called Verein für das Hermannsdenkmal was established at Detmold with the goal of funding the project, so Bandel could focus on the work of designing rather than on fundraising. Similar organisations were founded in other parts of Germany and donations started to come in. That same year, Prince Leopold II gave his permission to build

609-501: A part of the signed tourist road Straße der Monumente  [ de ] . During thunderstorms the prominence of the statue causes it to be frequently struck by lightning. The Blitzortung network of lightning detectors recorded 234 strikes per year on or near the statue. The term " Herman the German " is also commonly used by English speakers as an affectionate name for the Hermannsdenkmal  – and also as

696-745: A pile of arms as a trophy with the names of the defeated tribes inscribed beneath them. This trophy enraged the Germans, who ceased retreating beyond the Elbe and regrouped to attack the Romans at the Angrivarian Wall . This battle also ended in a decisive Roman victory, with Germanicus supposedly directing his men to exterminate the Germanic tribes. A mound was raised with an inscription reading "The army of Tiberius Caesar, after thoroughly conquering

783-558: A small landing to the statue from the front. The landing ends at the Bandel Bench, a semi-circular stone bench decorated with carvings of trophies taken from the Romans by the victorious Germans (designed by sculptor Wilhelm Albermann ). In its centre sits a copper monument commemorating Bandel, designed by Rudolph Hölbe  [ de ] . Near the monument stands the Bandelhütte , the historic hut where Bandel lived during

870-508: A symbol, since he allegedly had "united" the Germanic tribes. Reports by Roman historians on internecine fighting among the tribes were deliberately ignored. Arminius (or "Hermann") thus became a subject of popular literature such as Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock 's three dramas on this topic (1769, 1784 and 1789). However, Heinrich von Kleist likely did most to popularise Arminius in Germany with his Hermannsschlacht (1808). At that point,

957-498: A total size of around 11 hectares. It likely was one of a number of similar structures built and used from the 3rd to 1st century BC by local tribes at the northern edges of the German Mittelgebirge , apparently inspired by Celtic hilltop settlements further south. The Grotenburg walls probably were of a type made up of earth and supported by timber, but not much is known about their construction. Almost nothing of

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1044-594: The Landesverband Lippe  [ de ] . From its inauguration, the monument served as a memorial for the war against and victory over France. At the same time, Prussia and Germany were in the middle of Kulturkampf , a fight against the power of the Roman Catholic Church , thus Arminius became a convenient symbol of "another victory over Rome". In the Empire, the Hermannsdenkmal

1131-682: The Battle of Abensberg on 20 April. With the Treaty of Ried of 8 October 1813 Bavaria left the Confederation of the Rhine and agreed to join the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon in exchange for a guarantee of her continued sovereign and independent status. On 14 October, Bavaria made a formal declaration of war against Napoleonic France . The treaty was passionately backed by Crown Prince Ludwig and by Marshal von Wrede . Already at

1218-524: The Erbfeind (sworn enemy) of Germany in the 19th century. The subject wears clothes deemed historically accurate at the time and has a body shape which the designer considered to be "typically Germanic". The right arm holds the sword pointing upward. The left is supported by a large shield. The statue's left foot rests on a Roman Eagle , the standard of the Roman Legions. Next to it lies a fasces ,

1305-645: The Fosi , a neighbouring tribe, which shared equally in their disasters, though they had been inferior to them in prosperous days. Claudius Ptolemy 's Geography places the Cherusci, Calucones , and Chamavi ( Καμαυοὶ , Kamauoì ) all near one other and "Mount Melibocus" (probably the Harz Mountains ). The later history of the Cherusci is unattested. Ludwig I Ludwig I or Louis I ( German : Ludwig I. ; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868)

1392-558: The German Mediatization of 1803. In 1815, Baden's possession of Manheim and Heidelberg was confirmed and only the left bank territories were given back to Bavaria. Ludwig founded the city of Ludwigshafen there as a Bavarian rival to Mannheim. Ludwig moved the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität from Landshut to Munich in 1826. The king also encouraged Bavaria's industrialization. He initiated

1479-546: The Hünenring-Festspiele after the setting, the Kleiner Hünenring . It was to last until the end of the Empire in 1918. During World War I the monument became an instrument of military propaganda, which implied that the current war would end with a German victory like the battle fought by Arminius or the war of 1870/71. In 1915, the number of annual visitors exceeded 50,000 for the first time. In

1566-814: The Italian Renaissance , Ludwig patronized the arts and commissioned several neoclassical buildings , especially in Munich . He was an avid collector of arts, amassing paintings from the Early German and Early Dutch periods as well as Graeco-Roman sculptures. All living legitimate agnatic members of the House of Wittelsbach descend from him. Born in the Zweibrücker Hof in Straßburg as Ludwig Karl August von Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken , he

1653-669: The July Revolution of 1830 in France, Ludwig's previous liberal policy became more and more repressive. The Hambacher Fest in 1832 revealed the discontent of the population caused by high taxes and censorship. In connection with the unrest of May 1832, some 142 political trials were initiated. The seven death sentences that were pronounced were commuted to long-term imprisonment by the king. About 1,000 political trials were to take place during Ludwig's reign. The strict censorship, which he had reinstated after having abolished it in 1825,

1740-666: The Ludwig Canal between the rivers Main and the Danube . In 1835 the first German railway was constructed in his domain, between the cities of Fürth and Nuremberg . Bavaria joined the Zollverein in 1834. As Ludwig had supported the Greek fight of independence his second son Otto was elected king of Greece in 1832. Otto's government was initially run by a three-man regency council made up of Bavarian court officials. After

1827-576: The Marcomanni and reprisal attacks led by Germanicus . After rebel Cherusci killed Arminius in AD   21, infighting among the royal family led to the highly Romanized line of his brother Flavus coming to power. Following their defeat by the Chatti around AD   88, the Cherusci do not appear in further accounts of the German tribes, apparently being absorbed into the late classical groups such as

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1914-605: The Napoleonic Wars on the help France received from some German states and celebrates Prussia as the leader and liberator of Germany. It also gives the dates of the Battle of Leipzig , the Treaty of Paris , the Battle of Waterloo and the Battle of Issy (i.e. the fall of Paris in 1815). The third niche contains a relief of Emperor William I , celebrating his victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 and his role as unifier of Germany as

2001-458: The Roman military as cavalry auxiliaries . The elder son Arminius returned as an auxiliary commander under P. Quictilius Varus , who began organizing Germany as the new province of Germania Magna in AD   7. This involved expanded taxation and demands of tribute , and Arminius began organizing a combined attack on Varus's legions . A Cheruscan noble named Segestes attempted to warn

2088-625: The Saxons , Thuringians , Franks , Bavarians , and Allemanni . Cherusci ( Latin: [kʰeːˈrus.kiː] ) is the Latin name for the tribe. Both it and the Greek form Khēroûskoi ( Χηροῦσκοι ) are presumably transcriptions of an otherwise unattested Old Germanic demonym , whose etymology is unclear. The dominant opinion in scholarship is that it may derive from * herut (" hart "), which may have had totemistic significance for

2175-1007: The Walhalla temple , the Befreiungshalle , the Villa Ludwigshöhe , the Pompejanum , the Ludwigstraße , the Bavaria statue , the Ruhmeshalle , the Glyptothek , the Old and the New Pinakothek . His architects Leo von Klenze and Friedrich von Gärtner also strongly influenced the cityscape of modern Athens . Already as crown prince Ludwig collected Early German and Early Dutch paintings, masterpieces of

2262-464: The Weimar Republic the monument became a popular meeting point for associations and societies of the nationalist, monarchist and reactionary right whilst the government kept its distance. The 50th anniversary of the statue's inauguration from 1 to 19 August 1925 thus was an event dominated by the political right. On 8/9 August, around 50,000 visitors attended a procession. Another highlight was

2349-641: The Zollverein economic union in 1834. After the July Revolution of 1830 in France, Ludwig's previous liberal policy became increasingly repressive; in 1844, Ludwig was confronted during the Beer riots in Bavaria . During the revolutions of 1848 the king faced increasing protests and demonstrations by students and the middle classes. On 20 March 1848, he abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Maximilian . Ludwig lived for another twenty years after his abdication and remained influential. An admirer of ancient Greece and

2436-461: The campaigns of Tiberius , L. Domitius Ahenobarbus , and M. Vinicius as late as the "vast war" begun around 2   BC. Finally, in AD   4, Tiberius overcame the factions of the Cherusci still hostile to Rome and by the next year he considered the tribe a Roman ally , giving it special privileges. The chieftain Segimer sent at least two sons who became Roman citizens and served in

2523-493: The governor repeatedly, but Varus ignored him and followed Arminius into an ambush in the Teutoburg Forest and marshes in AD   9. Working together, the Cherusci, Bructeri , Marsi , Sicambri , Chauci , and Chatti completely destroyed the 17th , 18th , and 19th Legions ; Varus and many of the officers fell on their swords during the battle. Cassius Dio reports that Segimer was second in command during

2610-632: The " Varian disaster ". This event later came to be seen as a vital turning point in Middle-European history as it may have been instrumental in limiting the advance of the Roman Empire into Germania . In the 1520s, Arminius was equated with the name "Hermann", perhaps first by Martin Luther . Germany was among those countries where nationalism became a rising force in the 19th century as opposition to aristocratic rule increased. Equating

2697-712: The 1815 Congress of Vienna , Ludwig advocated a German national policy. Until 1816 the crown prince served as governor-general of the Duchy of Salzburg , whose cession to Austria he strongly opposed. His second son Otto , the later King of Greece, was born there. Between 1816 and 1825, he spent his years in Würzburg . He also made numerous trips to Italy and stayed often in the Villa Malta  [ de ] in Rome, which he later also bought (1827). Ludwig supported generously as

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2784-763: The Cabinet now turned against Ludwig. He had to sign the so-called "March Proclamation" with substantial concessions. On 16 March 1848 it was followed by renewed unrest because Lola Montez had returned to Munich after a short exile. Ludwig had to let her be searched by the police on 17 March, which was the worst humiliation for him. Not willing to rule as a constitutional monarch , Ludwig abdicated on 20 March 1848 in favour of his eldest son, Maximilian . Ludwig lived for another 20 years after his abdication and remained influential, especially as he continued several of his cultural projects. For most of his time in Munich his residence

2871-675: The Cherusci, freeing Segestes from captivity and seizing the pregnant Thusnelda. Arminius assembled the Cherusci and surrounding tribes while Germanicus marched some men east from the Rhine and sailed others from the North Sea up the Ems , attacking the Bructeri on their way. These two forces met and then ravaged the land between the Ems and the Lippe . When they reached the Teutoburg Forest, they found

2958-599: The Ems and Weser , the Romans met Arminius's forces at the plains of Idistaviso by the Weser near modern Rinteln . Tacitus reports the Battle of the Weser River as a decisive Roman victory: The enemy were slaughtered from the fifth hour of daylight to nightfall, and for ten miles the ground was littered with corpses and weapons. Arminius and his uncle Inguiomer were both wounded but evaded capture. The Roman soldiers proclaimed Tiberius as imperator and raised

3045-619: The German Middle Ages, Ludwig ordered the re-erection of several monasteries in Bavaria which had been closed during the German mediatisation . He reorganized the administrative regions of Bavaria in 1837 and re-introduced the old names Upper Bavaria , Lower Bavaria , Franconia , Swabia , Upper Palatinate and Palatinate . He changed his royal titles to Ludwig, King of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, Duke in Swabia and Count Palatine of

3132-739: The German name for Bavaria today is spelled "Bayern" instead of "Baiern", while the German dialect spoken there has retained its original spelling "Bairisch"—note the I versus the Greek-derived Y . Ludwig was an eccentric and notoriously bad poet. He would write about anything, no matter how trivial, with strings of rhyming couplets. For this, the king was teased by Heinrich Heine who wrote several mocking poems in Ludwig's style. Ironically, Ludwig's Walhalla temple added Heine's bust to its collection in 2009. In private life Ludwig was, in spite of his royal assertiveness, modest and companionable and

3219-665: The German nation) but was turned down by the Nazi government in Berlin. The Nazi leadership preferred to organise events at locations of its own choosing, with better transport facilities. The monument featured as a symbol in Nazi propaganda material, but as a place for assemblies it was mostly used only by the Hitlerjugend and local branches of the various Nazi organisations. In 1936, the monument had 191,000 visitors. Events in 1935 (the monument's 60th anniversary) and 1941 (100 years since

3306-657: The Italian renaissance, and contemporary art for his museums and galleries. He also placed special emphasis on collecting Greek and Roman sculpture. Through his agents, he managed to acquire such pieces as the Medusa Rondanini , the Barberini Faun , and, in 1813, the figures from the Temple of Aphaea on Aegina . One of his most famous conceptions is the celebrated "Schönheitengalerie" (Gallery of Beauties) , in

3393-416: The Rhine , the Arch-Steward of the Empire , and Duke of Berg on the extinction of the Sulzbach line with the death of the elector Charles Theodore . His father assumed the title of King of Bavaria on 1 January 1806. Starting in 1803 Ludwig studied in Landshut where he was taught by Johann Michael Sailer and in Göttingen . On 12 October 1810 he married Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1792–1854),

3480-438: The Rhine . His successors kept these titles. Ludwig's plan to reunite the eastern part of the Palatinate with Bavaria could not be realized. The Electoral Palatinate , a former dominion of the Wittelsbach, had disappeared under Napoleon when France first annexed the left bank of the Rhine, including about half of the Palatinate, and then gave what remained on the right bank including, Mannheim and Heidelberg , to Baden during

3567-452: The Roman Empire as an external enemy (via the Medieval Popes and the early modern Kingdom of France ). The Congress of Vienna , which re-ordered Europe after Napoleon's final defeat, disappointed hopes for a unified Germany as the princes were mostly able to retain their independent powers in the new Deutscher Bund . Against this backdrop Ernst von Bandel came to the Teutoburg Forest in 1836 to put into action his life's dream of erecting

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3654-410: The Roman cavalry but the Roman infantry was able to check and rout them over the course of a two day battle. Tacitus considered this a victory although historians such as Wells think it was more likely inconclusive. In AD   16, Germanicus returned with eight legions and Gallic and Germanic auxiliary units, including men led by Arminius's younger brother Flavus . Marching from the Rhine and along

3741-493: The Suebi were separated from the Cherusci by the "Bacenis Forest", a relatively impenetrable beech forest, possibly the Harz . Pliny grouped them with the nearby Suebi , Chatti , and Hermunduri as Irminones , tribes who claimed descent from an ancestor named Mannus . Tacitus later placed them between the Chatti and the Chauci , generally taken to indicate a territory between the Weser and Elbe . As part of his German campaigns , Drusus marched an army east into

3828-416: The Weimar years: 1920 96,000 people climbed the monument, by 1925 that number had increased to 120,000. Adolf Hitler visited the monument in 1926 and after 1930 the Lippe NSDAP used the location for a number of assemblies. After the Hitler's seizure of power in 1933, the Detmold government tried to have the Hermannsdenkmal declared the official Wallfahrtstätte der deutschen Nation (pilgrimage site of

3915-470: The attitude of Caroline's stepson Ludwig I, who had been a strong opponent of Protestantism in spite of his marriage to a Protestant princess, Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The Ultramontanes' regime only ended due to their demands against the naturalization of Ludwig I's Irish-born mistress Eliza Gilbert (better known by her stage name Lola Montez ). Ludwig resented that move, and the Ultramontanes under Karl von Abel were pushed out. Already in 1844, Ludwig

4002-595: The battle but Arminius seems to have acted as chieftain himself soon thereafter. He abducted Segestes's daughter Thusnelda and married her. The Romans encouraged the Marcomanni to attack the Cherusci and launched punitive raids of their own, eventually recovering some of the lost eagle standards from the defeated legions. In AD   14, Germanicus raided the Chatti and Marsi with 12,000 legionnaires, 26 cohorts of auxiliaries, and eight cavalry squadrons and systematically laid waste to an area 50 miles wide such that "no sex, no age found pity". He then campaigned against

4089-404: The bodies of the slain Romans unburied and in places sacrificed on German altars. The army buried the dead for half a day, after which Germanicus stopped the work to return to war against the Germans. Making his way to the Cherusci heartland, Germanicus was attacked by Arminius's men at Pontes Longi ("the long causeways") in the boggy lowlands near the Ems. The Cherusci trapped and began to kill

4176-479: The daughter of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen . The wedding was the occasion of the first-ever Oktoberfest . Ludwig strongly rejected the alliance of his father with Napoleon I of France but in spite of his anti-French politics the crown prince had to join the emperor's wars with allied Bavarian troops in 1806. As commander of the 1st Bavarian Division in VII Corps, he served under Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre in 1809. He led his division in action at

4263-428: The eagle as a heraldic symbol of Germany. The sword has the following inscription in gold letters: On the shield is written Treufest (roughly "always faithful"). The pedestal is shaped like a monopteros , a Classical round temple. This is surrounded by ten columns, supporting Gothic arches . At the time of construction, the Gothic style (which actually originated in France) was deemed a "true German" style. Inside

4350-426: The early Roman Empire under Augustus , the Cherusci first served as allies of Rome and sent sons of their chieftains to receive Roman education and serve in the Roman army as auxiliaries . The Cherusci leader Arminius led a confederation of tribes in the ambush that destroyed three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest in AD   9. He was subsequently kept from further damaging Rome by disputes with

4437-428: The final years of construction (1872–75). Today, it features a small exhibition on the monument. A bit further away is the Bismarckstein monument, dedicated to Otto von Bismarck in 1895. The hill also features two circular ramparts. One, around 300 m from the monument, is known as the Kleiner Hünenring . The other, larger one, surrounds the monument and is known as Grotenburg or Großer Hünenring . The latter had

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4524-443: The financial viability of the project came to be questioned. Thus, in 1839, Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Christian Daniel Rauch presented an alternative design. The Prussian king preferred Bandel's more martial design. Yet despite an ample flow of donations, financial difficulties continued. An initial celebration on occasion of the finished base vault on 8 September 1841 already gave rise to some fervent anti-French rhetoric. In 1844,

4611-456: The first Emperor of the German Empire . He is explicitly equated with Arminius in the inscription. Underneath, an inscription states that Napoleon III declared war on Prussia in July 1870, which resulted in "utter defeat" for France at the hand of the combined German states and the establishment of the Unification of Germany . These structures were added in 1908/09, based on an overall design by architect Wilhelm Kreis . The stairs lead up from

4698-403: The foundation stone was laid) were smaller than the 1909 and 1925 celebrations and focused on glorifying Hitler and glamorizing him as the successor of Arminius. Post-1945, attempts were made to de-politicise the monument. The 75th anniversary celebrations in 1950 were relatively low key, even though they lasted longer than any previous ones, from 6 July to 20 August. They mostly served to promote

4785-403: The group. Another hypothesis—proposed in the 19th century by Jacob Grimm and others—derives the name from * heru- ( Gothic : hairus ; heoru , a kind of sword ). Hans Kuhn has argued that the derivational suffix -sk- involved in both explanations is uncommon in Germanic. He suggested that the name may therefore be a compound of ultimately non-Germanic origin and connected to

4872-412: The hypothesized Nordwestblock . The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe living around the central Weser River in the 1st century BC and 1st century AD . They are first attested in Julius Caesar 's Commentaries on the Gallic War . Caesar relates that in the year 53   BC he crossed the Rhine to punish the Suebi for sending reinforcements to the Treveri . In passing, he mentions that

4959-434: The monument in shaping the public's reception of the Germanic past. The monument stands on the peak of the wooded hill known as Grotenburg , 386 m above NHN. The hill is part of the Teutoburg Forest . It is located south of the Stadtteil Hiddesen  [ de ] of Detmold . To the southwest lies the Sennelager Training Area . The monument rises a total of 53.44 m. The statue accounts for 24.82 m (including

5046-400: The monument, but only for the Grotenburg location, thereby settling the issue. He also provided the property rights for the project. The local residents agreed to forfeit their wood pasture rights on the peak. Bandel's family moved to Detmold. In 1838, Bandel changed his original draft idea for the figure of 1834 to take into account that a pedestal would be needed in this location, to make

5133-417: The most popular tourist destinations in Germany with over 530,000 visitors a year. The statue's base may be climbed, affording wide landscape views over the surrounding tree cover. Since 1972, a new form of the Hermannslauf  [ de ] starts at the monument every April. A long-distance signed hiking trail known as Hermannsweg leads past the monument. Since 2008, the Hermannsdenkmal has been

5220-401: The nation with all of its people rather than just with its rulers was a revolutionary idea at the time. In Germany, it became entwined with the hopes of many for an end to the disunity that had ruled the Holy Roman Empire at least since the Peace of Westphalia . Nationalists wanted one of the German princes to unite all of Germany under a single rule. In this regard, Arminius came to be seen as

5307-413: The north-west. In 9 AD, Arminius , a chieftain of the Cherusci people and an auxiliary cavalry commander, turned against his Roman allies and led an alliance of Germanic tribes to ambush three legions under the leadership of provincial governor Publius Quinctilius Varus . The vast majority of the Roman legions were destroyed. To Rome and its Emperor Augustus the loss was a catastrophe and called

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5394-412: The old Empire had been dissolved , the Kingdom of Prussia had been defeated and partially dismembered by Napoleon and all hopes of a German Great Power emerging in the foreseeable future seemed lost. In this situation, Arminius served as an historical role model ("Father of the German Nation") for those willing to continue the fight against the Empire of France, which was seen as the latest successor of

5481-498: The other tribes which extend as far as the Elbe. Germanicus was then moved to the Parthian border in Syria and soon died, possibly from poisoning. Arminius was killed in turn by Segestes and his allies in AD   21. After Arminius's murder, the Romans left the Cherusci more or less to their own devices. In AD   47, the Cherusci asked Rome to send Italicus , the son of Flavus and nephew of Arminius, to become their chieftain, as civil war had destroyed their other nobility. He

5568-417: The pedestal is a spiral staircase of 75 steps leading up to a round platform encircling the dome on which stands the statue. Three of the niches created by the columns contain inscriptions: The first shows a Latin quotation from Tacitus ' Annals , describing Arminius as the liberator of Germany ( Germaniae ). The second refers to the Befreiungskriege against Napoleon. It blames the prior defeats in

5655-405: The pedestal was completed, but it had overshot cost estimates by 4,000 thaler . This caused a rift between the Verein and Bandel, who moved back to Hanover in 1846. After the German revolution of 1848 failed to create a unified German state, the flow of donations for the monument became a trickle and work ceased. Bandel now used his private wealth to continue the work. By 1860, the design for

5742-425: The presence of the Blessed Sacrament at Corpus Christi processions and church services. The policy, which had been in place when Bavaria was still almost purely Catholic before 1803, had been discontinued after the inclusion of large Protestant areas. Catholic disturbances during the funeral of the Protestant Queen Caroline of Baden in 1841 caused a scandal. This treatment of his beloved stepmother permanently softened

5829-437: The project. In 1869, William I of Prussia visited Bandel's workshop. After the German victory over the French in the Franco-Prussian War and the creation of the new German Empire, Bandel's Arminius monument perfectly captured the mood of the times and work advanced rapidly. The new Reichstag allocated 10,000 thaler. From August 1871, Bandel once again worked on the site and in 1872 moved there with his wife. In September 1873,

5916-401: The region as a tourist destination. Annual visitor number rose to 400,000 in the 1960s and 1970s, but the focus shifted towards the view and the monument as a purely touristic sight, while the political connotations were pushed into the background. Events in 1975 and 2000 (100th and 125th anniversary) for the first time included critical debate of the 19th-century views of Arminius and the role of

6003-438: The south pavilion of his Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. A collection of 36 portraits of the beautiful women painted between 1827 and 1850 mostly by Joseph Karl Stieler . Also after his abdication, Ludwig remained an important and lavish sponsor for the arts. This caused several conflicts with his son and successor Maximilian. Finally, Ludwig financed his projects from his own resources. Because of King Ludwig's philhellenism ,

6090-516: The statue visible from afar. Earthworks began in July 1838, and the foundation stone was laid in October 1838. Bandel then traveled to Italy and met King Ludwig I of Bavaria en route, who promised him financial support but also asked for a design change. Thus the rock that was supposed to cap the temple and serve as the base for the figure was to be replaced by a dome surrounded by a gallery. Bandel included this in his final draft of 1840. Problems emerged as Bandel's designs were subject to criticism and

6177-464: The statue's internal iron frame had been created. A supportive Verein was founded in Hanover. From 1862, Bandel worked on the copper plates at a workshop in Hanover. In 1866, Prussia defeated Austria and German nationalism once again was on the rise. It became more associated with authoritarianism than with the liberal ideas of 1848 and also more anti-French. That year, Prussia annexed the Kingdom of Hanover and its king once again took an interest in

6264-453: The structure remains visible today, as the terrain has been altered by the building of the monument, the parking area and other touristic infrastructure. No archaeological findings have been made, with the exception of a possible Iron Age (Roman) spear head. A similar Hermann Monument was built in the 1890s in New Ulm, Minnesota , a town settled by German immigrants. The statue is one of

6351-444: The sword). Pedestal and base of the statue make up the difference. The statue was made from around 200 copper plates riveted together and supported by an iron frame. The copper weighs an estimated 11.8 metric tons. The pedestal is made of local sandstone , quarried on the hill nearby. The statue faces west. This reflects the idea that Varus' troops were coming from this direction. It is also intended to confront France, considered to be

6438-466: The symbol of Roman judicial authority. The figure's position is known as contrapposto , with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. Arminius is shown wearing trousers, a short skirt reaching to the upper thighs, a tabard held closed by a fibula and boots. On the bearded head with short curly hair sits a winged helm. Bandel knew that Germanic tribes did not use winged helmets but wanted to show

6525-658: The territory of the Cherusci in 11   BC and was ambushed as he returned west at a narrow pass called Arbalo , probably near modern Hameln or Hildesheim . The Cherusci were initially victorious but paused their attack, allowing the surviving Romans to break through the encirclement and escape. By that winter, Drusus had recovered enough control that a garrison was stationed somewhere in Cheruscan territory, probably at either Haltern or Bergkamen in North Rhine-Westphalia . The Cherusci continued to resist

6612-469: The tribes between the Rhine and the Elbe, has dedicated this monument to Mars , Jupiter , and Augustus ." In the next year, Germanicus was recalled to Rome. Tacitus reports this as partially caused by the emperor's growing jealousy of the general's fame, but permitted him to celebrate a triumphal march on 26 May: Germanicus Caesar, celebrated his triumph over the Cherusci, Chatti, and Angrivarii , and

6699-572: The workshop in Hanover was closed and the finishing touch to the monument (the attaching of the Emperor William relief) was applied in July 1875. The monument was inaugurated on 16 August 1875, in the presence of Emperor William I and the crown prince, Frederick William , which made this an event of national importance. Around 20,000 to 30,000 people participated in the festivities. Although it

6786-413: Was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states . When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars . As king, he encouraged Bavaria's industrialization, initiating the Ludwig Canal between the rivers Main and the Danube . In 1835, the first German railway was constructed in his domain, between the cities of Fürth and Nuremberg , with his Bavaria joining

6873-523: Was "given" to the German people in that ceremony, the Verein remained the legal owner of the monument. The Verein was dissolved in 1881 and transferred responsibility for it to the government of the Principality of Lippe . After a long legal process, ownership passed to the foundation Hermannsdenkmal-Stiftung in 1928, which remains the caretaker today. After 1945, the foundation was linked closely to

6960-581: Was confronted with the Beer riots in Bavaria . During the revolutions of 1848 the king faced increasing protests and demonstrations by the students and the middle classes. The king had ordered to close the university in February, and on 4 March, a large crowd assaulted the Armory to storm the Munich Residenz . Ludwig's brother Prince Karl managed to appease the protesters, but the royal family and

7047-571: Was inaugurated. Missing from the scene was the Kaiser , however. Due to a past argument over the succession in the Principality of Lippe, the current Prince, Leopold IV had asked for the Emperor to be omitted from the list of guests. The day ended with an outdoor staging of a new play by August Weweler, Hermann der Cherusker . This started an annual tradition of such theatrical events, known as

7134-436: Was indeed treated as a national monument, but it remained controversial. At first it was Catholics, but later social democrats, unionists and communists who failed to identify with the monument. Until 1909 no large-scale events took place there, but the location was used for numerous private occasions in memory of the 1870/71 war. In 1881, Detmold was connected to the railway and tourists started to arrive, initially numbering just

7221-546: Was initially well liked but, since he was raised in Rome as a Roman citizen, he soon fell out of favor. He was succeeded by Chariomerus , presumably his son, who was defeated by the Chatti and deposed around AD   88. Tacitus (56– c.  120 ) writes of the Cherusci: Dwelling on one side of the Chauci and Chatti, the Cherusci long cherished, unassailed, an excessive and enervating love of peace. This

7308-430: Was more pleasant than safe, for to be peaceful is self-deception among lawless and powerful neighbours. Where the strong hand decides, moderation and justice are terms applied only to the more powerful; and so the Cherusci, ever reputed good and just, are now called cowards and fools, while in the case of the victorious Chatti success has been identified with prudence. The downfall of the Cherusci brought with it also that of

7395-657: Was opposed by large sectors of the population. In 1837 the Ultramontanes backed by the Roman Catholic Church gained control of the Bavarian parliament and began a campaign of changes to the constitution, such as removing civil rights that had earlier been granted to Protestants, as well as enforcing political censorship. On 14 August 1838, the King issued an order for all members of the military to kneel in

7482-466: Was the neo-Gothic Wittelsbacher Palais , once built for his successor and unloved by Ludwig. He died at Nice in 1868 and was buried in St. Boniface's Abbey, Munich , which he had ordered to be built. As admirer of ancient Greece and the Italian Renaissance , Ludwig patronized the arts as principal of many neoclassical buildings, especially in Munich , and as fanatic collector. Among others he commissioned

7569-568: Was the son of Count Palatine Maximilian Joseph of Zweibrücken (later Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria ) by his first wife Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt . At the time of his birth, his father was an officer in the French Army stationed at Strasbourg . Ludwig was the godson and namesake of Louis XVI of France . On 1 April 1795 his father succeeded Ludwig's uncle, Charles II , as duke of Zweibrücken , and on 16 February 1799 became Elector of Bavaria and Count Palatine of

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