Duke Henry of Braunschweig and the Legend of the Lion.

The Brunswick Lion.

The Brunswick Lion is the best known landmark in the Lower Saxony city.    It stands in the Burgplatz, in front of Dankwarderode Castle and near the Cathedral.   The Lion was erected around 1166 outside his residence by "Henry the Lion,"  Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, born in Ravensburg in 1129/30 and died in Brunswick in 1195,  as a symbol of his ducal authority and jurisdiction. 

The Brunswick Lion is the oldest, and best preserved large sculpture dating from the Middle Ages north of the Alps, and the first large hollow casting of a figure since antiquity.   The bronze casting by an unknown artist, probably from Brunswick, weighs 880 kg,  is 1.76 mt high, with a maximum thickness of 12 mm. 

The Legend of the Lion

Shortly after the death of Henry the Lion, he became the subject of a folktale, the so called "Henry Saga."  The tale was later turned into the opera, "Enrico Leone" by the Italian composer Agostino Steffani.  The saga tells the fictional account of Henry's pilgrimage to the Holy Land. According to the legend, Henry witnesses a fight between a lion and a dragon during the pilgrimage.  He joins the lion in its fight, and together they slay the dragon.   The faithful lion then accompanies Henry back to Brunswick.  After his master's death, the lion refuses all food and dies of grief on Henry's grave.  The people of  the city then erected the statue to honour the lion. 

The Brunswick Lion in London.

There are several replicas of the Brunswick Lion around the world, all mainly in Germany, but including the one to the right, which stands in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Below is the replica that stands in the Burgplatz.  The original statue is too precious to stand outside in all weathers, and during the war both the original and the copy were safely hidden away.  Many statues in Germany were melted down during the war to supply metal for the ammunition industry.  The lost statues are now being gradually replaced by modern copies in many cities,  using old photographs and extant information and designs.

The copy of  the Lion on his pedestal in the Burgplatz.

Near the two sunlit archways stands the Cathedral's  "Lion Portal," which is the only portal remaining in the original Romanesque architecture.  It has deep scratches in its sidewalls, and these are the subject of another legend.  The lion was a good companion of Duke Henry, and it is said that he scratched away at the walls with his paws, because he did not want to leave his master alone in death.   The truth behind  the formation of these  scratches is more mundane.  They were probably made in the Middle Ages by the custom of whetting the edges of a sword, and for the endowment of good luck in battle.