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More information about the history
Image 1: Landsturm monument on the Drachenfels; lithograph from A. Vagedes, 1814; Image 2: Eduard Mandel (1810-1882), Heinrich Heine 1829, etching from a drawing by Franz Kugler (1808-1858)
After the Landsturm [reserve militia] monument was erected in 1814, the Drachenfels peak increasingly became the setting for rallies in favour of a national German state. Student organisations also used the Drachenfels peak to express their patriotism. The German poet Heinrich Heine joined the Bonn “Burschenschaft” fraternity in 1819 as a 22-year old law student. Heine shared the free nationalistic views of the student organisation; however his positive attitude to the French republican movement was probably out of sync with the anti-French sentiment amongst the students. After participating in the celebrations on the anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig, he wrote the irony-infused poem “Nacht auf dem Drachenfels” [Night on the Drachenfels].
Image (top left): Monument design, 1814, from Vagedes, lithograph, Kölnisches Stadtmuseum Image (top right): N.C. Hohe: The new monument on the Drachenfels; lithograph, 1857, Siebengebirgsmuseum / Heimatverein Siebengebirge, Königswinter
In 1814, the first monument (image on the left) was constructed by the reserve militia. However, poor quality stone was used and the obelisk thus fell into disrepair; it was replaced by a version erected with the help of support from King Frederick William IV in 1857. The inscription on the first monument was dedicated to two members of the reserve militia movement who had fallen in battle: the tenant farmer Johann Joseph Genger and the Prussian Major von Boltenstern. Genger was critically wounded in a feint attack on Nonnenwerth island and the (then French) western side of the Rhine in 1813. The citation for Boltenstern was controversial as the success of his military strategy was a point of contention. After all, his attempt to liberate Cologne and to drive back the French occupying forces was unsuccessful and at least ten more Prussian soldiers paid for it with their lives. The names of the two reserve militia activists were not mentioned on the new monument – instead, the gratitude shown to the King and benefactor was written large. What was originally a place of commemoration for the Rhine region had therefore become a national, Prussian commemorative site. The heir to the British throne also took part in the inauguration.
Image: Design for the new monument, Indian ink pen drawing by Ernst Friedrich Zwirner (detail), before 1857
On taking a closer look at the Indian ink pen drawing (before 1857) by the cathedral master builder Ernst Friedrich Zwirner, a comment by King Frederick William IV can be seen. It translates as follows: “The iron cross is to be placed on the top. -By the way, if I am to contribute more than a half, my name is also to be included in the inscription.- (signed) F.W.”
Image: Postcard, plateau and monument, around 1905
In the year 1876, the monument once again had to be rebuilt. An exact replica replaced the original which had fallen into disrepair – again with an addition to the inscription, which translated as: “[…] after the restoration of the German Empire by the first Emperor of Germany, William, King of Prussia, 1876.” In 1914, 100 years after the erection of the first monument, a private initiative turned the clock back to the very beginning. It gained public funding and thus a faithful but smaller replica of the first monument from 1814 with the original inscription was constructed on a higher plateau in the former castle grounds. The ancestors of Major von Boltenstern had campaigned strongly for commemorating those killed in action once more. The new model therefore reflected the zeitgeist and a military sentiment which escalated again and again on the eve of the First World War.
Practical informationAt the Siebengebirgsmuseum, you can find out more about the development of the patriotic Rhine and its regional manifestations. Siebengebirgsmuseum Königswinter, Kellerstraße 16
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