Flensburg Following the Danish victory over
Schleswig-Holstein in the
First War of Schleswig (1848–51), Danish sculptor
Herman Wilhelm Bissen was commissioned to create a monument to the ordinary Danish soldier. Although not an actual
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, his monument reflected a similar idea. This monument
Landsoldaten (
the Foot Soldier) 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. The lion is derived from the
arms of Denmark and
Schleswig which contain three and two blue lions, respectively. In order to create a perfect image of a lion, Bissen travelled to
Paris to study a lion held in the
Jardin des Plantes and created a life-size model before returning to Denmark. 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. 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." The wooden plinth was replaced with a bigger one made of brick, and the statue was reunited with its four reliefs for the first time in more than a century. The finished result was unveiled on the 150th anniversary of the battle, July 25, 2000, by Danish
Minister for Culture Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen. In her speech, she expressed the wish that the statue would be returned to Flensburg. A committee in
Fredericia, already the home of Bissen's other main work, the statue of the
Foot Soldier, was lobbying for moving the monument there.
Return to 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. On 10 September 2011, it returned to the military cemetery, where it was first erected. The ceremony was attended by HRH
Prince Joachim of Denmark. ==References==