Monument to the Battle of Nations

The Monument to the Battle of Nations, Frontal View, Leipzig, Germany

The “Monument to the Battle of Nations” is a war memorial in Leipzig, Germany, to the 1813 Battle of Leipzig. It was completed in 1913 for the 100th anniversary of the battle, at a cost of six million Goldmarks, paid for mostly in donations and by the city of Leipzig.

The monument commemorates Napoleon’s defeat at Leipzig, a crucial step toward the end of hostilities in the War of the Sixth Coalition, and was seen as a victory by the inhabitants of the area. The coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden were led by Tsar Alexander I of Russian and Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg. There were German soldiers fighting for both sides, as Napoleon’s troops also include conscripted Germans from the French-occupied left bank of the RhineRiver as well as from the Confederation of the Rhine.

The structure is ninety-one meters tall, containing over five hundred steps to a viewing platform at the top, from which one can view the city and environs. The structure makes extensive use of concrete, with its facings consisting of granite. Regarded as one of the best examples of Wilhelmine architecture and one of the tallest monuments in Europe, it is said to stand on the spot of the bloodiest fighting, from where Napoleon ordered the retreat of his army. It was also the scene of fighting in World War II, when Nazi forces in Leipzig made their last stand against US troops.

Shortly after the battle, Ernst Moritz Arndt, a leading liberal and nationalistic writer, called for a national monument to be built at the battle site. Several small monuments to veterans of the war as well as memorial stones marking key points in the battle were placed. On the fiftieth anniversary of the battle, a cornerstone for a future grand monument was placed, and twenty-three German cities pledged money for its construction. In 1894, the Association of German Patriots was founded, which raised by means of donations and a lottery, the funds necessary to construct the monument for the 100th anniversary of thee battle.

German architect Bruno Schmitz, due to his previous works in monuments, received the commission. The city of Leipzig donated the ten acre lot and construction began in 1898. Over twenty-six thousand granite blocks were used and the resulting total cost was twenty-eight million in 2020 Euros. On the 18th of October 1913, the ‘Völkerschiachtdenkmal’ was inaugurated in the presence of one hundred thousand people, including Wilhelm II, and all the reigning sovereign rulers of the German states.

Charles Jagger and Lionel Pearson

Charles Jagger and Lionel Pearson, The Royal Artillery Memorial, Hyde Park, London

The Royal Artillery Memorial is dedicated to the First World War casualties of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. It features a giant sculpture of a BL 9.2 inch Mk I Howitzer upon a plinth of Porland stone with stone reliefs depicting scenes from the conflict. Four bronze figures of artillerymen are positioned around the outside of the memorial.

Charles Sargeant Jagger was responsible for the bronze figures; architect Lionel Pearson designed the stone stucture of the memorial. The work was revised several times with much controversy about design, the siting of the memorial, the inscription, and the sculpture of the dead soldier at eye level.

The work was finished four months late, opening on October 18, 1925 by Prince Arthur and the Reverend Alfred Jarvis. Such was the toll taken on Jagger by finishing the Royal Artillery’s memorial that after its unveiling, he suspended work on all his other projects for six months to recuperate.

Achilles Vaslielou

Achilles Vaslielou, War Memorial of the Battle of Salamis, Greece, Bronze

This war memorial monument is the work of sculptor Achilles Vasileiou, in honor of the Greeks who fought in the naval battle of Salamis in 480 BC. The monument is located on the Kynosoura peninsula, Salamis Island of Greece.

The Battle of Salamis marked the turning point in the Greco-Persian wars. After Salamis, the Peloponnesus, and by extension Greece as an entity, was safe from conquest; and the Persians suffered a major blow to their prestige and morale (as well as severe material losses). At the following battles of Plataea and Mycale, the threat of conquest was removed, and the Allies were able to go on the counter-offensive.

The Greek victory allowed Macedon to revolt against Persian rule; and over the next 30 years, Thrace, the Aegean Islands and finally Ionia would be removed from Persian control by the Allies, or by the Athenian-dominated successor, the Delian League. Salamis started a decisive swing in the balance of power toward the Greeks, which would culminate in an eventual Greek victory, severely reducing Persian power in the Aegean.

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Karl Bitter

Karl Bitter, “Memorial Stone for Henry Villard”, Granite, Sleepy Hollow, New York

The Henry Villard Monument in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery at Sleepy Hollow, New York, is an Art Nouveau masterpiece. Here, Vienna-born American artist Karl Bitter, (1867-1915) sculpted fluid lines of the base of two trees that culminate in rounded tops flanking the statue of a young man depicted holding a sledge hammer, resting against an anvil as he gazes upwards.

The Fortress of Brest

Artist Unknown, “Courage”, 1971, Reinforced Concrete

Located in the city of Brest in Belarus, the sculpture “Courage” at the War Memorial Complex is a tribute to the famous “courage” defense of the Red Army against the German assault on the Soviet Union during the first days of World War II. The 32 meter high monument displays the head of a soldier next to a flag with hammer and sickle. On the back side of the monument one can find bas-reliefs representing the most important episodes of the fortress defence

The development of the War Memorial Complex was headed by sculptor Aleksandr Pavlovich Kibalnikov, a laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR and a popular painter of the USSR.