The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-10-18
Where Napoleon Was Defeated
q Hundred Years Ago.
THE SHAFT RISES 900 FEET
Stands on q Hill and Is
Reached by ITO Steps.
First Sod Was Turned Is Years
Ago Today.

| field of the Battle of the Nations"
| where just one hundred years ago the
defeat of Napoleon by the Allies vir-
| tually resulted in the liberation of
| one of the most imposing battle mon
uments in the world The ceremonies
| were notable even in this year of his
toric anniversaries in Germany.
The sovereigns of Austria, Russia
and Sweden, the nations that fought
with Prussia to break the power of
Napoleon in Germanic Europe, sent
their personal representatives and all
| the federated princes and mayors of
the German empire were present.
Their host is King Frederick August
III. Of Saxony. sixth in line of direct
descent from that King Frederick Au-
gust I. who fought with Napoleon
against the Allies; whose troops de-
serted to the Allies on the decisive day
and who himself, vainly appealing for
terms, was taken to Berlin and kept a
virtual prisoner for three years.
The structure dedicated is today by
far the largest and highest in Europe.
1t stands just south of Leipsic, near
Probstheida. the village out of which
the Allies drove Napoleon on Oct IS,
1913, the decisive day of the Battle of
Nations The fight had then ragged
for six days between the Austrians,
Prussians, Russians and Swedes on the
one side, and the French, aided by
the Saxons and Wurttembergers on the
other. when the deciding day came.
On the following day Napoleon aban-
doned the contest, leaving behind rs, 900
of his army of $50, 900 men, Is 900 of
them dead. The Allies, at a loss of
1000 from a total strength of about
900, had made Germany free from
foreign domination to the banks of
the Rhine.
First Stone Laid.
he ideo of monument on he
tlefeld was preached in the following
year by Ernst Moritz Arndt, and
found support from number of prom
inent Germans and from a Russian
diplomat. An organization was formed
a Leipsic to keep alive the memory
Of the battle, but a king in captivity
furnished grounds for abandoning the
movement. The monument idea came
up from time to time in the succeed
ing years, and in 1863, on the fiftieth
anniversary of the battle, the founda-
ton stone of a monument was laid.
Then came the wars of 1864, 1866
and 1S70-71, and it remained for the
German Patriots Association, formed
in Leipsic in 1894, to take the matter
up and carry it to a successful conclu-
sion. Four years later the necessary
money had been raised, a design by
Professor Bruno Schmitz had been ac-
cepted, and the first sod was turned
for the work on october Is, 1898.
about 100 feet above the level of the
surrounding country 1t is approached
by fight of 10 steps hewn in gran |
tie. On the base of the monument at !
the head of the stairs is an imposing
relief, $50 feet long and 60 feet wide.
the work of Christian Behrens. In the
center of the relief is a heroic figure
of Saint Michael On each side of him
F'uries with torches hover over a bat
tlefield strewn with dead. Above. in
letters high nf
the anticipation warriors: "Gott Nit .
Uns" God with us.)
1t Is 300 Feet High.
The monument rises to a height of /
nearly 800 feet. 1t is of reinforced 4
concrete, faced with porphry On the
ground level is a crypt, surrounded by
eight gigantic stone masks, represent /
ing fate In front of each mask stands !
two warriors, twice life size, holding I
the death watch Above this crypt is /
a rotunda, enclosing the Hall of Fame. I
About the walls sit four figures, two
male and two female, seven times life
size They represent Courage, Sac
rifice, Exaltation and Belief. The
figures are the work of Professor
Franz Metzner.
Around the outside of the domed
cupola which surmounts stand twelve
gigantic warrior figures. The interior
of three of them are occupied by
winding stairs and an elevator, giving
access to a balcony near the top of the
One striking thing is noted in con-
nection with all the statues: not one
any prince or sovereign. The
uprising against Napoleon in 1913 was
an uprising of the people, not of their
rulers, and the new monument is a
monument of the people. There is not
a personal note about it.
What do you know about Ceres?" DO
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