Leipzig has been a big player in historical moments for the last few centuries, but very few people know very much about it. It has quietly (and sometimes not-so-quietly participated in history.
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This was the city of Bach and Mendelssohn and Goethe.
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The Battle of Leipzig was here. Just to update you Americans who unfortunately probably missed out on being taught about the Napoleonic wars that engulfed Europe and changed the continent, the Battle of Leipzig was considered the Battle of the Nations. This was the turning point in the wars at eventually lead to Napoleon being defeated and exiled to Elba.
This enormous structure is a monument to commemorate the battle.
What I find interesting is that it was built 100 years after the battle at outrageous costs volunteered by the locals.
Could you imagine anything uniting people these days enough that the population would volunteer loads of money to commemorate something that happened a century ago?
There are things that happened last year that divide people. We won’t spend time in the forest for the fact that some of the trees don’t look exactly like we want them to.
I guess for a city that produced such brilliant individuals, we shouldn’t be surprised that someone there was somehow able to unite it.
Stay tuned…
-Noah D.
