Lessing-Denkmal

On Hamburg's Gänsemarkt stands the Lessing Monument, a significant work by the Berlin sculptor Fritz Schaper. It was unveiled in 1881 on the 100th anniversary of the death of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and has stood at the center of the square ever since, the very place where the playwright once worked. The monument consists of a larger-than-life bronze figure enthroned on a tall pedestal of polished red granite. The figure shows Lessing in a relaxed seated pose on a chair draped with a heavily folded traveling cloak. He wears a richly detailed 18th-century costume and holds a book in his left hand, using his index finger as a bookmark. His features are slightly idealized to convey energy and intellectual boldness, with the two halves of the face reflecting different emotions.

The pedestal is decorated with bronze plaques bearing portrait reliefs on its sides of Hamburg figures who influenced Lessing or were connected to him. These include the actor Conrad Ekhof and the Enlightenment thinker Hermann Samuel Reimarus, depicted as coin-like medallions set among laurel and oak-leaf branches. The volutes of the pedestal contain allegorical motifs such as gorgon and satyr masks, representing the muses of tragedy and comedy, as well as a scroll listing the titles of Lessing's major works. The monument is now a protected landmark and, together with the surrounding historic buildings, forms a protected ensemble.

The history of the monument is closely tied to Lessing's life in Hamburg, where he worked as a dramaturge at the National Theater from 1767 to 1770. Schaper's design, which portrayed Lessing seated, was controversial in the artists' competition, as many preferred a standing statue. After adjustments in response to the criticism, the work was finally realized. During World War II the monument was dismantled and buried to protect it from destruction, and it was not reinstalled until 1955. During later redesigns of the square it was temporarily moved, before being returned to the center of the Gänsemarkt in 2016, where it now faces the historic site of the National Theater.