Significance
This statue commemorates the Germanic victory over the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, a symbol of German patriotism, pride, and joy.
While Arminius had been known about in Germany since the rediscovery of the writings of Tacitus in the 15th century, German Protestant intellectuals in the first half of the 18th century christened him "Hermann the German" and promoted his status from that of a local tribal leader with family ties to Rome to that of a hero of German resistance to "Roman" (i.e. Papal) authority; the 19th century added another layer of meaning, namely Pan-German unity and resistance to Revolutionary and Napoleonic Romance-language France. As depicted in this statue, Hermann's westward gaze and upraised sword signify freedom from Rome. Perhaps not coincidentally, a statue of St. Peter atop the nearby Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Trinity also gazes westward, with his sword point-down, planted firmly in the ground.
Read more about this topic: Hermann Heights Monument
Famous quotes containing the word significance:
“History is the interpretation of the significance that the past has for us.”
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“The hypothesis I wish to advance is that ... the language of morality is in ... grave disorder.... What we possess, if this is true, are the fragments of a conceptual scheme, parts of which now lack those contexts from which their significance derived. We possess indeed simulacra of morality, we continue to use many of the key expressions. But we have—very largely if not entirely—lost our comprehension, both theoretical and practical, of morality.”
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“To grasp the full significance of life is the actor’s duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication.”
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