The Hermann Heights Monument is a statue erected in

New Ulm, Minnesota New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,120 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Brown County. It is located on the triangle of land formed by the confluence of the Minnesota River and the ...

. The statue depicts Arminius (german: Hermann), an ancient Cheruscan, but locals refer to the statue as Hermann the German. The only

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

property of its kind in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, the monument remains an impressive remembrance of German ancestry for many Minnesotans and other

German Americans German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

. Visitors to the statue can climb the spiral staircase to an observation platform at the base of the statue, which commands a view of the town and the Minnesota River Valley below.

Significance

This statue commemorates the German victory over the Romans at the

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as the Varian Disaster () by Roman historians, took place at modern Kalkriese in AD 9, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius ...

, a symbol of German patriotism. While Arminius had been known about in Germany since the rediscovery of the writings of

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

in the 15th century, German

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

intellectuals in the first half of the 18th century christened him "Hermann Deutsch" and promoted his status from that of a local tribal leader with family ties to Rome to that of a

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

of Alemmani resistance to "Roman" (i.e. Papal) authority; the 19th century added another layer of meaning, namely Pan-German unity and resistance to

Revolutionary France The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and her

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

. As depicted in this statue, Hermann's eastward gaze and upraised sword signify freedom from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Perhaps not coincidentally, a statue of

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

atop the nearby

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Cathedral of the Holy Trinity also gazes eastward, with his sword point-down, planted firmly in the ground.

Characteristics

The Hermann Monument has a total height of approximately . Constructed of sheet copper molded over iron, the statue stands on a iron column encircled by a

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

to the dome, which is supported by 10 iron columns and a

Kasota stone Kasota limestone or simply, Kasota stone, also called Mankato stone, is a dolomitic limestone found in southern Minnesota, especially near the Minnesota River and its tributaries. This sedimentary rock is part of the Oneota Dolomite of southern ...

base.

History

Following the completion of the similarly commemorative

Hermannsdenkmal The ''Hermannsdenkmal'' (German for "Hermann Monument") is a monument located southwest of Detmold in the district of Lippe (North Rhine-Westphalia), in Germany. It stands on the densely forested ', sometimes also called the ''Teutberg'' or ''Te ...

statue in

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of t ...

, Germany, in 1875, the Germanic-American fraternal order of the

Sons of Hermann The Order of the Sons of Hermann (german: Der Orden der Hermanns-Soehne, also known as Hermann Sons ( ''Hermannssöhne'' ), is a mutual aid society for German immigrants that was formed in New York, New York on July 20, 1840,Fritz Schilo"Sons ...

, under the leadership of Julius Berndt, who headed the New Ulm chapter and was then national secretary of the order, paid for the erection of the American monument. Berndt designed the monument setting, for which the cornerstone was laid in 1888.Hermann on the Prairie
City of New Ulm, Minnesota, retrieved April 25, 2011. The statue was created by Alfonz Pelzer of the W. H. Mullins Manufacturing Company in

Salem, Ohio Salem is the largest city in Columbiana County, Ohio, with a small district in southern Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 11,915. It is the principal city of the Salem micropolitan area in Northeast Ohio. It is 18 ...

and shipped to New Ulm. It arrived in 1890 and was dedicated in 1897. Structural and cosmetic restoration projects were carried out in 1998 and again in 2004. The Hermann Heights Monument was added to the

in 1973. It is the third largest copper statue in the United States after the Statue of Liberty and

Portlandia ''Portlandia'' is an American sketch comedy television series starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, set in and around Portland, Oregon, and spoofing the city's reputation as a haven for eccentric hipsters. The show was produced by Br ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. The 106th United States Congress (2000) designated the Hermann Monument in New Ulm to be a symbol of all citizens of Germanic heritage. In 2011, placement at the monument was authorized of a rock engraved with the words "The 106th Congress of the United States of America designates the Hermann Monument in New Ulm, Minnesota as an official symbol recognizing the great contribution by Americans of German Heritage A.D. 2000.": Josh Moniz
"Commission OKs Hermann archway, rock monument,"
''The Journal'' (New Ulm) March 22, 2011.

References

External links

Hermann Monument, New Ulm, Minnesota

Hermann Monument Society
{{Brown County, Minnesota Monuments and memorials in Minnesota Outdoor sculptures in Minnesota 1897 sculptures New Ulm, Minnesota Buildings and structures in Brown County, Minnesota German-American culture in Minnesota German-American history 1897 establishments in Minnesota Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Copper sculptures in the United States Iron sculptures in the United States Stone sculptures in Minnesota Tourist attractions in Brown County, Minnesota Beaux-Arts architecture in Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Brown County, Minnesota Cultural depictions of Arminius