Mendelssohn Denkmal

On the Dittrichring in Leipzig, the Mendelssohn Monument commemorates the composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The neo-Baroque bronze statue shows the musician as a 2.8-meter-tall (about 9 ft) figure in a toga, standing on a stepped granite base. In his left hand he holds a roll of sheet music, while his right hand wields a baton, a reference to his role as a pioneer of modern conducting. At his feet sits the muse Euterpe, flanked by angels playing music. The base is decorated with symbolic elements such as an organ for sacred music and masks for secular art, and it bears the inscription "Edles nur künde die Sprache der Töne" ("Let the language of music proclaim only what is noble"). The ensemble stands 6.8 meters (about 22 ft) tall in total.

The original was unveiled in 1892, based on a design by Werner Stein, in front of what was then the New Gewandhaus. During the Nazi era, the monument was torn down in 1936 because Mendelssohn was ostracized for his Jewish heritage. The bronze pieces disappeared, probably melted down, while the base was sold. After the war, a plain stone first served as a memorial before a bust by Walter Arnold was installed in 1947. It was later moved to various locations around Leipzig and today stands on the Mendelssohn-Ufer.

In 2008, the monument was rebuilt as a faithful replica. The Dresden sculptor Christian Schulze reconstructed the work from old photographs, and it was cast at the Lauchhammer art foundry. Funding came from donations and from the city, as well as from the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation. The site in the green spaces of the Dittrichring has a spatial connection to St. Thomas Church, where Mendelssohn worked as an organist and conductor, as well as to his former residences in the city.