When I saw this picture on the Internet, it immediately seemed to me that it was "photoshop". Either the big stylistic difference between the statue and the pedestal was striking, or the whole combination with the surrounding space, the combination looks somehow surreal. Well, you remember all sorts of giant statues in fantasy films or "photoshopped" sculptures in all possible and impossible places. These were the thoughts.
And everything turned out to be much more ancient and prosaic.
The monument to Arminius is located on the top of a 386-meter hill and is dedicated to the victory of the Germanic tribes over the Roman army led by Arminius in 9 AD. It is located in the Teutonburg forest, more than 53 meters high. One of the 25 tallest statues in the world.
After the capture of German territory by Napoleon and political fragmentation, the German public was looking for characters and events that could personify the idea of national unity and greatness of the German nation. At the beginning of the 19th century, monuments appeared in different places in Germany. The construction of the monument to Arminius was started in 1838, earlier than others, but due to financial problems it was stopped. It ended in 1875 with the financial support of Kaiser Wilhelm.
The author of the monument, Ernst von Bandel, believed that the battle took place in this place, but it is now known that it took place a hundred kilometers to the northeast. Of course, I would like the author to have more reliable data, since the location was not chosen very well. The monument is surrounded by forest on all sides. Even if you go up to the observation deck, you will still see only the forest. The monument is important as a historical value, but a mass tourist is looking not only for history, but for beautiful places and landscapes.
And I suggest you learn more about this …
Promotional video:
In today's Germany, Arminius, or Hermann, as some German poets, who have taken a liking to historical themes, preferred to call him, is considered a national hero. However, the battle that glorified him 2,000 years ago in the Teutoburg Forest at different times was interpreted differently by different social circles. Suffice it to say that Arminius himself did not consider himself a German, because Germany in the modern sense did not exist at that time. There were territories inhabited by various Germanic tribes.
Arminius, born between 18 and 16 BC, was the son of Sigimer, chieftain of the Cherusci tribe. By the way, his real name is unknown. He was called Arminius by the Romans, whom he served for some time and with whom he later fought. And this name, most likely, was the Latinized form of the German name "Armin", which then, many centuries later, in German literature in German.
At the beginning of our era, the Roman emperor Tiberius actively conquered the lands of the Germans. Soon the territory of the Cherusks, the Arminius tribe, was included in the Roman Empire. To keep the provinces in obedience, the Romans used to send family members of local rulers to Rome as hostages. This fate also befell Arminius and his younger brother. They were taken to the capital of the empire, where they received a good education and mastered the art of war.
In 4 AD, Arminius entered military service with the Romans. In the Roman army, he commanded a German detachment and, paradoxically, fought successfully on the side of the Romans. Soon, having become the owner of Roman citizenship, Arminius received the estate rights of a horseman.
In 7 AD Arminius returned home to his tribe. At this time, Publius Quinctilius Varus became the Roman governor in Germany. This is how the historian Welley Paterculus, who himself served as the commander of the Roman cavalry in Germany, characterizes him:
“Quinctilius Var, who came from a family more famous than noble, was by nature a gentle man, calm disposition, clumsy body and spirit, more suitable for leisure camp than for military activities. That he did not neglect money, was proved by Syria, which he previously stood at: poor he entered a rich country, and returned rich from a poor one."
Florus, another Roman historian, points out that Var "rather imprudently boasted that he was able to tame the savagery of the barbarians with rods of lictors and the voice of a herald." In addition, according to Velley Paterculus, Var tried to introduce Roman legal proceedings in Germany, which was alien to the Germans because of its extremely formal nature.
Var trusted Arminius so much that he even moved his headquarters to the lands of the Cherusci, from where, as he believed, it would be more convenient to collect taxes from the Germans. At that time, outwardly, the Germans did not show any hostility towards the Romans, and Var lost his vigilance.
Meanwhile, Arminius was preparing a conspiracy against the oppressors, trying to form an alliance of the Germanic tribes to fight the Romans. Here's how Arminia Valley Paterculus characterizes:
"… Arminius, the son of the leader of the tribe, Sigimer, a noble young man, brave in battle, with a lively mind, with newbaric abilities, with a face and eyes that reflect the reflection of his soul."
It is not clear what prompted Arminius to take action - either rejection of Roman culture, or concern for the future fate of his own tribe. Ultimately, he enlisted the support of a number of tribes, among which, as can be judged from indirect evidence, were Bruckers, Mars and Hawks.
True, Arminius had a powerful enemy among his fellow countrymen - his father-in-law, the noble Cherusque Segest. He hated his son-in-law because he, having returned to Germany and decided to marry, without hesitation, kidnapped Segesta's daughter Tusnelda. Segest warned Var about the conspiracy, but he did not believe him.
According to the plan of Arminius, at first a mutiny broke out among the distant Germanic tribes. Under the pretext of fighting the rebels, he gathered his own army to accompany the army of Var, which came out to suppress the uprising. There is, however, another version. Some historians believe that Var was not at all going to campaign against the rebels, but only wanted to take the Roman troops to the Rhine for the winter. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that a huge train with women and children stretched behind the army.
However, wherever the army of Var was directed, it did not manage to get far. Arminius very soon fell behind her - supposedly waiting for reinforcements. First, he attacked individual detachments of the Romans, then began an attack on the main contingent. The details of the battle, which lasted for three days, are described by Cassius Dio in his History.
First, the Germans fired at the Romans from an ambush. For two days, the Romans, while they were in an open area, managed to keep a close combat formation and somehow fight off the attackers. On the third day, the Roman troops entered the forest. The weather was favorable for the Germans: it was pouring rain. The Romans in their heavy armor found it difficult to move, while the lightly armed Germans remained maneuverable.
The wounded Var and his officers decided to be stabbed to avoid shameful captivity. After that, the resistance of the Romans was broken. Demoralized soldiers died, practically no longer trying to defend themselves.
Historians believe that between 18 and 27 thousand Romans died in this battle. The exact place of the battle, as well as its exact date, are unknown. Most historians believe that the battle took place in September. The place where the battle took place is called only by the ancient Roman historian Tacitus, namely: the Teutoburg forest, located in the upper reaches of the Amisia and Lupia rivers (the current rivers Ems and Lippe).
Today, most historians agree that the fateful battle took place in present-day Calcriz, on the outskirts of the small town of Bramsche. This conclusion allows us to make archaeological finds, including Roman coins.
But initially Grotenburg was considered the battlefield near Detmold. It was there that in 1838 the construction of the monument to Arminius began, which was completed only in 1875.
The success of Arminius' military campaign was short-lived, as he constantly had to overcome the resistance of his own tribal nobility. In 19 or 21 AD, he was killed - by the way, by the way, apparently, by his father-in-law Segest.
Nevertheless, Arminius-Herman managed to stop the advance of the Romans deep into German territories. They finally left the right bank of the Rhine for the Germans. Tacitus spoke of Arminius like this:
“This was, undoubtedly, the liberator of Germany, who opposed the Roman people not at the time of their infancy, like other kings and leaders, but at the time of the heyday of his power, and although he sometimes suffered defeats, he was not defeated in the war. He lived for thirty-seven years, for twelve he held power in his hands; among the barbarian tribes it is praised to this day."