An Ironic Monument to Henry the Lion and Its History (13 photos)

The controversial yet ironic monument to the city's founder depicts citizens happily showing off their naked half-butts to the viewer.





The monument to Henry the Lion is located on the Old Town Market and is dedicated to the founder of the German city of Schwerin, Henry the Lion. The history of the square dates back to 1160. For centuries, the market served as the political, economic and religious center of the city.



Schwerin

The seven-meter-high sculpture is a lion standing on a pillar. Episodes from Henry's life are carved into the stone on the sides:

The Wendish Crusade of 1147, the founding of Schwerin in 1160, the creation of the Brunswick Lion in 1164-1176 as a symbol of Henry's reign in the Brunswick residence and... a buttock parade.





The monument was erected in 1995 on the eve of the 800th anniversary of the city's founder and on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Mecklenburg. The author was the sculptor Peter Lenk. After the project was made public and the monument was unveiled, opinions about it were very mixed. Some smiled, looking at the four-story pillar, while others were outraged by the obscenities depicted on it - a horse with detailed genitals and a row of naked buttocks.



Legend has it that when Henry the Lion arrived in the town of Bardowick, the inhabitants greeted him with their pants down, revealing their bare bottoms. They staged this "parade of the bottoms" to express their anger at the Duke's trade policies. During his reign, Henry promoted Schwerin and Lübeck as important trading centers, causing Bardowick to lose its prestige, earning it the scorn of its inhabitants.



The artist Peter Lenk is known for his provocative and ironic works. With his monument in Schwerin, he wanted to show the many facets of Heinrich - the founder and destroyer of the city, the proud ruler and the apocalyptic horseman. The picturesque reliefs of the conquest of Mecklenburg are depicted in a military and unflattering way. Show, massacre, glorification - this is the view of history that the artist confronts the viewers of the monument with. Lenk also hid a secret in his monument to Leo.



Through the hole in the hindquarters of the proud horse Heinrich, one could look inside - if it were not sealed. Inside, Lenk depicted on the relief the state and party leader of East Germany Erich Honecker and his Soviet counterpart Leonid Brezhnev in a fraternal kiss. However, the artist rejects a free view of the fraternal kiss. He only wanted to preserve the memory of the history of the GDR.

Peter Lenk



Peter Lenk

Peter Lenk was born in Nuremberg in 1947. He studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart and initially worked as a drawing teacher and potter. The sculptor is primarily known for his satirical and provocative works, in which he expresses his views on social conditions. His unauthorized art actions in public spaces in Berlin and Bonn caused a sensation in the 1980s. His main works are mainly located in the south of Germany. They also often focus on public figures and celebrities - a style that is usually taboo for Lenk. Peter Lenk lives in Bodman-Ludwigshafen on Lake Constance.