El monumento del León, en Suiza, es una de las motivaciones de Veredas Educativas
Lucerne: Lion Monument - HELVETIORUM FIDEI AC VIRTUTIhttp://www.old-picture.com/europe/Switzerland-Monument-Lucerne-Lion-001.htm

Al llegar a Lucerna, el guía turístico fue poco a poco preparando al grupo para apreciar el Monumento más importante de Suiza. Viajábamos en autobús por unos 21 días y ocho países de Europa occidental. Ya nos conocíamos los componentes del grupo de unos 40 de diversos países, especialmente de americanos.
Nos llevaron a una plaza mediana y al final una fuente plana y una montaña de piedra maciza cortada por la mitad. Al acercarnos se fue definiendo la inmensa escultura de un león acostado. Se necesitó la descripción del guía para reconocer que al león le atravesaba el corazón por una lanza partida, que estaba triste y una lágrima bajaba de su ojo, y mas abajo un listado grande nombres.

La explicación que recuerdo es que para entender el significado del monumento era necesario  saber la historia de Suiza.

Era el país mas pobre de Europa durante la Edad Media, por sus escarpadas montañas que dificultaban la agricultura, al tope de los Alpes con el clima más extremo y sin salida al mar. Eran tan pobres que se dedicaron a ser los guardaespaldas mercenarios de los reyes y lores feudales de Europa. Los hijos más altos eran seleccionados para esa labor. Gran parte de su sueldo lo enviaban a sus familiares en Suiza.

Para el 10 de agosto del 1792, al comienzo de la Revolución francesa, había un contingente de mercenarios suizos al servicio del Rey Luis XVI y su familia. La turba anunció asaltar el Palacio de Tuileries. Todos los soldados franceses se fueron corriendo, sólo quedaron los mercenarios suizos. El dirigente del contingente suizo los reunió y dialogaron sobre la situación Si huían salvarían sus vidas. Si se que daban morirían. Analizaron el que un mercenario alquila sus servicios arriesgando su vida, que si huían perderían el prestigio, el honor como mercenarios y condenaría a sus familias a vivir en la miseria. Realizaron una votación y decidieron quedarse y ofrendar sus vidas. Se quedaron y casi todos murieron. El nombre de los que murieron estaba escrito en piedra debajo del león acostado, triste, moribundo del monumento. Con la inscripción HELVETIORUM FIDEI AC VIRTUTI que significa "Por la Leltad y Bravura de los Suizos" ­(HELVETIORUM FIDEI AC VIRTUTI means "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss").

Al conocer los suizos el sacrificio de sus compatriotas, decidieron ser lo mejor que les fuera posible, fueron junto a los Estados Unidos de Am el sacrificio de sus compatriotas, decidieron ser lo mejor que les fuera posible, fueron junto a los Estados Unidos de América y el Japón los primeros en establecer la educación publica universal y se dedicaron a fabricar con la mejor calidad, productividad y excelencia. De ser los más pobres e improductivos, se convirtieron en los mas productivos y ricos de Europa. Trabajando.

Entendemos que el trabajo salvara y devolverá el progreso al mundo y Veredas Educativas tratara de motivar a que los Abuelos enseñen a trabajar a sus nietos, y así aportar en lo mas que nos sea posible a mejorar a Puerto Rico.   

http://travelguide.all-about-switzerland.info/lucerne-lion-monument-pictures-history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Monument

Lion Monument, Lucerne

The Lion Monument in Lucerne is a giant dying lion carved out of a wall of sandstone rock above a pond at the east end of the medieval town. It was designed as a memorial for the mercenary soldiers from central Switzerland who lost their lives while serving the French king Louis XVI during the French Revolution.

When the revolutionary masses attacked the royal Tuileries castle in Paris on August 10, 1792 the Swiss mercenary troops tried to defend the royal family and make sure the royals could escape.

Lucerne: Lion Monument - HELVETIORUM FIDEI AC VIRTUTI
Lion Monument, detail view of the dying lion carving in sandstone rock



Translation of the inscription on the Lion Monument

The latin inscription HELVETIORUM FIDEI AC VIRTUTI means "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss". (To understand HELVETIORUM [=of the Swiss] see: Confoederatio Helvetica vs. Switzerland)
Furthermore you'll find the engraved names of the dead and of the saved officers of the Swiss guard as well as the death toll among the Swiss soldiers (DCCLX = 760) and the number of surviving soldiers (CCCL = 350).


What is the meaning of the Lion Monument?

An officer of the Swiss guards, second lieutenant Carl Pfyffer von Altishofen, a descendant from an influential patrician family, happened to be on home leave in Lucerne when his fellow soldiers were killed in Paris. After the times of revolution were over in 1815 and France as well as Switzerland had returned to conservative regimes, Pfyffer felt obliged to erect a memorial to honor the mercenary soldiers.

Liberal politicians from all over Switzerland dissapproved of the memorial, but they were in a minority position during the 1820's and Pfyffer was backed by a majority in Lucerne.

The Lion Monument was inaugurated on August 10, 1821. Originally the site was private property. In 1882 the city of Lucerne bought it. The site is accessible without an entrance fee. The monument soon became one of Lucerne's major tourist attractions.


The artists that created the Lion Monument

Lucerne: Lion Monument

The Lion Monument was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1884), a classicist Danish sculptor in 1819 while he stayed in Rome, Italy.

Lucas Ahorn (1789-1856), a stone-mason from Constance (southern Germany) actually carved it out of the sandstone rock in 1820/1821.

The giant sculpture is 6 m [20 ft] high and 10 m [33 ft] long. The upright wall of rock is the remains of a quarry exploited over centuries to build the town.


Historical background

Swiss mercenary soldiers had a long tradition since the military success of the Swiss troops against the counts of Habsburg and duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy in the 15th century. Recruiting, equipping and instructing mercenary soldiers and sending them to the service of French kings and Italian dukes was big business for patrician families in central Switzerland.

But already in the age of reformation Swiss church reformer Huldrych Zwingli, who had been campaigning in northern Italy as a military chaplain himself earlier, challenged the institution. As this meant undermining a major source of income of influential families as well as giving up a major field of occupation for young men in a peripheral region always fighting with economical problems the disputatious church man's initiative encountered fierce resistance. The mercenary issue might even have been the essential reason why central Switzerland did not join the church reform and stayed with the traditional catholic belief. The dispute finally lead to two civil wars in Switzerland in 1529 and 1531. Zwingli himself was killed during the second war.

With the liberal (modern) Swiss constitution of 1848 mercenary services in favor of foreign powers were declared a criminal offense - with the sole exception of the Swiss guard at the Vatican. While the Vatican used to be just one of the Italian principalities until the late 19th century, it has been reduced to a district of Rome exempt from Italian jurisdiction since. So the papal Swiss guard can be regarded as a mix of folklore (with their colorful costumes) and of a city police today.


Testimonials

Mark Twain, well known American author, called the Lion Monument «the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world».

 

 

 

Lion Monument

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lion Monument in 2007

The Lion Monument (German: Löwendenkmal), or the Lion of Lucerne, is a sculpture in Lucerne, Switzerland, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen. It commemorates theSwiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris, France. The American writer Mark Twain (1835–1910) praised the sculpture of a mortally-wounded lion as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world."[1]

Contents

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[edit]Background

From the early 17th century, a regiment of Swiss mercenaries had served as part of the Royal Household of France. On 6 October 1789, King Louis XVI had been forced to move with his family from the Palace of Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. In June 1791 he tried to flee abroad. In the 1792 10th of August Insurrection, revolutionaries stormed the palace. Fighting broke out spontaneously after the Royal Family had been escorted from the Tuileries to take refuge with the Legislative Assembly. The Swiss ran low on ammunition and were overwhelmed by superior numbers. A note written by the King has survived, ordering the Swiss to retire and return to their barracks, but this was only acted on after their position had become untenable.

Of the Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries, more than six hundred were killed during the fighting or massacred after surrender. An estimated two hundred more died in prison of their wounds or were killed during the September Massacres that followed. Apart from about a hundred Swiss who escaped from the Tuileries, the only survivors of the regiment were a 300 strong detachment which had been sent to Normandy a few days before August 10. The Swiss officers were mostly amongst those massacred, although Major Karl Josef von Bachmann — in command at the Tuileries — was formally tried and guillotined in September, still wearing his red uniform coat. However two surviving Swiss officers went on to reach senior rank under Napoleon.

[edit]Memorial

The initiative to create the monument was taken by Karl Pfyffer von Altishofen, an officer of the Guards who had been on leave in Lucerne at that time of the fight. He began collecting money in 1818. The monument was designed by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, and finally hewn in 1820–21 by Lukas Ahorn, in a formersandstone quarry near Lucerne.

The monument is dedicated Helvetiorum Fidei ac Virtuti ("To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss"). The dying lion is portrayed impaled by a spear, covering a shield bearing the fleur-de-lis of the French monarchy; beside him is another shield bearing the coat of arms of Switzerland. The inscription below the sculpture lists the names of the officers, and approximate numbers of the soldiers who died (DCCLX = 760), and survived (CCCL = 350).[2]

The pose of the lion was copied in 1894 by Thomas M. Brady (1849–1907)[3] for his Lion of Atlanta in the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.

Art criticism

The Lion lies in his lair in the perpendicular face of a low cliff — for he is carved from the living rock of the cliff. His size is colossal, his attitude is noble. How head is bowed, the broken spear is sticking in his shoulder, his protecting paw rests upon the lilies of France. Vines hang down the cliff and wave in the wind, and a clear stream trickles from above and empties into a pond at the base, and in the smooth surface of the pond the lion is mirrored, among the water-lilies.

Around about are green trees and grass. The place is a sheltered, reposeful woodland nook, remote from noise and stir and confusion — and all this is fitting, for lions do die in such places, and not on granite pedestals in public squares fenced with fancy iron railings. The Lion of Lucerne would be impressive anywhere, but nowhere so impressive as where he is.

 Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, 1880


[edit]Notes

  1. ^ Mark Twain (1880). "Chapter XXVI: The Nest of the Cuckoo-Clock". A Tramp Abroad. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  2. ^ "Lion Monument Inscriptions". Glacier Garden, Lucerne. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  3. ^ "Thomas M. Brady, Sr". Find A Grave. 2003-09-16. Retrieved 2008-08-09.

[edit]External links

From the subtropical palm-beach to the glaciers of the Ice Age!
The Glacier Garden is an outstanding natural monument with gigantic glacial potholes and erratic blocks from the Ice Age 15,000 to 20,000 years ago, and with fossilized shells and palm leaves dating back 20 million years.
Zoom map
Museum with the oldest relief map of Switzerland, a historical model of the city and a fun hall of mirrors.
Just a few steps away, you find "The dying Lion of Lucerne", which Mark Twain described as the "saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world". The Lion Monument was hewn out of natural rock in memory of the heroic death of the Swiss mercenaries at the Tuileries in 1792. 

pening hours:
April - October: 9 am to 8 pm
November - March: 10 am to 5 pm
 

«The dying Lion of Lucerne» is one of the world's most famous monuments. 

It was carved out of natural rock in memory of the heroic deaths of the Swiss mercenaries at the Tuileries in 1792. Mark Twain described the Lion of Lucerne as the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world.



 Lion Monument (362 KB)

Lion Monument Lucerne Switzerland - Greg Sharpe

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Lion Monument Lucerne Switzerland Photograph by Greg Sharpe

Picture of Lion Monument with a small pond and flower in the foreground(Lucerne, Switzerland)

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Not just a beautiful city because of its attractive old town, but also a city on a beautiful location, and a perfect stepping stone to exploring the Alps, just a little more to the south.
Lucerne lies on the northwestern corner of the Vierwaldstättersee, or Lake Lucerne, and is most famous for its wooden covered bridges. However, the city has much more to offer. I decided to start walking along the shore of the lake, with some nice views towards the higher mountains in a distance and lots of boats. I first came across the Leodegar cathedral, alternatively called Hofchurch, or Hofkirche, one of the remarkable sights of the city that can be seen from far away, thanks to its sharply pinned spires. Originally, there was a Benedictine monastery on this same spot, constructed in the early 8th century, which was destroyed by fire. The current building was built in the 17th century.

The Secret of the Lion Monument - Lucerne

Take a look at the photo above. See anything strange? Neither did I when I visited the Swiss city of Lucerne. There’s a great story behind this heart wrenching monument. But on top of the story is a funny nugget of information. Go ahead; take a look at the photo again. You’ll kick yourself when you see what you’ve missed. And no, don’t skip ahead to the end of the article to discover the fun nugget. You can endure the rest of my story. Wait it out. It’ll be worth it. Hmmm. You still want to eh? Well, I’m going to put an irregularly long paragraph break here to keep you from skipping ahead.     

   

 Ok then, we can continue on now that your finger is tired from that extra scrolling I put you through. The Lion Monument was carved in 1821 by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen in honour of 700 members of the Swiss Guard who died protecting King Louis XVI of France during a bloody uprising. Old Louis and his family pulled a real jerk move too. It turns out they weren’t even home when these brave young men were dying to protect them. They had already buggered off! You may recognize these Swiss Mercenaries as the same fellows who guard over the pope in the Vatican. They wear those hilarious yellow, blue and red striped puffy uniforms.  I know what you’re thinking. “I can beat up a whole army of these weirdos.” Well, you’d be sorely mistaken. These guys are among the world’s elite soldiers, trained to drop anyone, anywhere, anytime (if you pay them well.) They’d brutalize smug upstarts like you and I.  I bet they wear those ridiculous outfits to lure their enemies into a false sense of security. Then, BLAM! You’re pretty much dead. Anyways, sadly a great number of these brave young men were killed protecting the royal family of someone else’s country. I guess we don’t have to feel too bad though, because they’d be long since dead by now anyways.               

The monument itself tears at your soul. The anguish displayed on the lion’s face is agonizing. His paw rests on a fallen shield emblazoned with the Fleur-De-Lis (an emblem of the French Monarchy.) Beside him you can also see a Swiss shield. The lion is impaled by a spear. It’s a heart crushing scene.

                But, in the end there’s a little bit of humour as well. No, no, no, I’m not a big fan of impaling kitties, but I do like funny side stories. And this one has a good one. Now, take a look at the photo one last time. Notice anything different yet? If you take a close look around the periphery of the sculpture you’ll see that it’s outlined in the shape of a pig! There doesn’t seem to be a firm story on why this is. I was told that it was because old Bertel (the sculptor) was owed some money from the city. When they didn’t pony up the dough, he chiseled out the swine frame.  Now, I’m not here to besmirch Bert or the Lucerne city council of 1821, so please take this with a grain of salt. But, in the end, there is indeed a big ol’ pig around the monument. Neat!