The Isted Lion

Although not an actual Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, his monument reflected a similar idea. This monument Landsoldaten was unveiled in Fredericia in 1858. At the following banquet, it was decided to start a public subscription of funds for a second monument, and one of the options discussed was a statue of General Frederik Rubeck Henrik Bülow, the commander of Fredericia during the German siege of the town. Through the intervention of politician Orla Lehmann, it was decided that the funds would instead be used for a monument commemorating the Battle of Isted.

Like the previous monument, this commission was awarded to Bissen. Erecting the monument in Flensburg rather than Copenhagen or Isted, was seen as a provocation by the region's German nationalists who opposed the Danish claim to sovereignty over the area. Flensburg was divided by national sympathies, but had a pro-Danish majority until after the 1864 war.

In the following peace settlement, Denmark surrendered both Schleswig and Holstein, leaving the monument on the German side of the new border. Following the occupation of Flensburg by German forces, German nationalists attacked the monument and tried to topple it. The Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck, ordered the monument to be dismantled, and its parts were originally stored in the courtyard of the Schleswig Estates in Flensburg. In 1874, a zinc copy of the monument was erected in Berlin in a public park, Schweiz, near the Colonie Alsen association of war veterans.

This monument was paid for by banker Wilhelm Conrad. On the copy, the reliefs of the four Danish officers were replaced with a single image of the German officer Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, in effect reversing the meaning of the original monument. In 1938, the Danish press reported the existence of the copy of the historic monument, and at roughly the same time, the zinc copy was moved to Heckeshorn near the Wannsee, where it remains today.

The plinth was created in 2000. Such a request was promptly delivered by Danish Foreign Minister John Christmas Møller. Møller said, «The removal of this sepulchral monument, which in this country is considered a national sanctuary, and its erection in a German military academy, caused a resentment which till this very day is still alive in wide circles of the Danish people.

In what was considered an interim solution, the lion was placed in a courtyard on the rear side of the Royal Danish Arsenal Museum and placed on a mere wooden plinth. From 1945 to 1947, a few Danish politicians, with wide support in the popular opinion, advocated for a re-annexation of Southern Schleswig, and in particular Flensburg – resulting in a fierce political debate. On a number of occasions, controversy over the monument resurfaced, as a new generation of politicians began advocating for its return to a German-administered Flensburg.

At the request of the city council of Flensburg, the Danish Government decided to return the Isted Lion to its original home in Flensburg.

Read More