THE BATTLE OF THE NATIONS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 92, 18 December 1913, Page 4

THE BATTLE OF THE NATIONS

About the middle of October a great’ ceremony took place at Leipzig, when the hundredth anniversary of what is popularly known as “The Battle of the Nations,” was fittingly commemorated. It is not surprising that Germany should make much of the centenary of the war of liberation against Napoleon. The central feature of the festivities was the dedication of the great monument erected in memory of the battle of- Leipzig. The ceremony was probably one of the most prominent that Germany has ever seen, and is said to outshine in pomp and glory even i those festivals the Holy Roman Empire was famous for in days of old. The Kaiser himself was, of course, present, and with him many Kings, Princes and nobles from every other state and dependency. The Emperors of Russia and Austria, and the King ol Sweden,' whose ancestors’ armies fought as allies with the troops of Prussia and Leipzig, were duly represented by members of their houses. Germans in foreign lands were. , not behind the patriotic - associations of the Fatherland in sending deputations to the great opening ceremony. The monument itself, the centre of the whole ceremony, is a remarkable structure. Standing as it does 31)0 feet high, and larger than any other such erection in the world (the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour has been outdone by nearly 50 feet), it seems at a distance more like the unfinished base of some,still more gigantic tower, whose completion proved beyond the powers of man, and to which, as a second best, a .heavy cupola bad been added.- Beautiful it certainly is not. Apart’ ‘from the' oppressive grandeut of. mere, size, it is said to leave on the observer an , n'ncpmfdrtable Reeling o,f awkwardnessffipdgU-propprAipni?. What ■ -'ever may he‘tho.excellence .of its isepa--Tifte i/artd; 'the Vitality l : of a gv'eat'htojrk (.of nrt'js, Ihckihg ifv: th^;’wh(ilfd' ; ' f ! ill‘drills y:t>mpp;^|,i|,' ip a' ,gi'anf’ 4j Ahonfjtfwp,s ; j oij a •.iioiigbfhciwnlsiieel ihamufer.l f dh any: cdse r dAe fdeU that''it'Avoided be more in keeping with the great wastes of ,Egypt’ or Assyria than with the homo-, ly Saxon plain on, which, it,s l tpn,ds,. h |£be > cost of this, enormous erection, to defray which the German Patriots’ League has beerf collecting subscriptions fpi-Athe last twenty years, amounts to over i’3bQ,o6 5 6, ife'e scarfsdiUg~amlW' havingncpst more thsp.;£ljs,pQßv ( IgCther with itsmcemeritv/fomulatioiis.v I -‘for which' 1,000,000; r cubrC : metres; ; of i ’ carfii 'has 1 ’heeif jtlfe ' ttoinf-. meut, we arc told," weighs half a, million, tons.- At its l?ase sdand r s a coJosr sal relief;. 13a- feet broad-by,'>6s-1 feet, high, depicting the advent ’of - St. Michael, the guardian of ‘ battles’, f St.' ’ M ichael! himself is pouf frayed by a fig--1 ure 35 feet high, the size, tbaf is,' of an ordinary three-storeyed house. : Within the inner hall are four seated 1 figures of the German national virtues —Self-sacrifice, Courage, Faith, and- ‘ Vigour. They are not more than 29j feet high, but each one is estimated to weigh at least 300 tons. The greatest achievement of all are the twelve ' “Protectors of Liberty” that surround the base of the domed roof. Each stands just under 10 feet high, and the foot alone of one of these mighty figures is said to weigh two Hons and a half.