Bremen Roland

Coordinates: 53°04′33″N 8°48′26″E / 53.0759°N 8.80731°E / 53.0759; 8.80731

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Statue of Roland on the market square
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, iv, vi
Reference	1087
UNESCO region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	2005 (29th Session)

The Bremen Roland is a statue of Roland, erected in 1404. It stands in the market square (Rathausplatz) of Bremen, Germany, facing the cathedral, and shows Roland, paladin of the first Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and hero of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. Roland is shown as protector of the city: his legendary sword (known in chivalric legend as Durendal) is unsheathed, and his shield is emblazoned with the two-headed Imperial eagle.

The standing figure is 5.47 m tall, and stands on a 60 cm rostrum. A supporting column, crowned by a baldachin, brings the combined height to 10.21 m. The statue was carved in limestone from Elm, and was commissioned by the city fathers to replace a wooden one burnt in 1366 by Prince-Archbishop Albert II. It confronts the church as a representation of city rights opposed to the territorial claims of the prince-archbishop.

Statues of Roland appear in numerous cities of the former Holy Roman Empire, as emblems of city liberties, Stadtrechte.^[1] The Roland statue at Bremen is the oldest surviving example. From Bremen the symbol of civic liberty and freedom spread to other cities and has become a symbol of the new Europe. Since 1973, it is protected by the monument protection act.^[2] In July 2004, along with the town hall, the statue was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Legend

Postcard of Bremen from circa 1905, showing Roland and the marketplace.

According to legend, Bremen will remain free and independent for as long as Roland stands watch over the city. For this reason, it is alleged that a second Roland statue is kept hidden in the town hall's underground vaults, which can be quickly installed as a substitute, should the original fall.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roland statue of Bremen.

Notes

External links

• UNESCO World heritage listing

v t e World Heritage Sites in Germany For official site names, see each article or the List of World Heritage Sites in Germany. Northern Fagus Factory in Alfeld Berlin Modernism Housing Estates Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin Bremen: Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System Hildesheim: St. Mary's Cathedral and St. Michael's Church Hanseatic City of Lübeck Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar The Wadden Sea1 Ancient Beech Forests2 Central Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar and Dessau Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz Dresden Elbe Valley (delisted in 2009) Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski3 Collegiate Church, Castle, and Old Town of Quedlinburg Wartburg Castle Classical Weimar Western Aachen Cathedral Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at Brühl Cologne Cathedral Messel Pit Fossil Site Upper Middle Rhine Valley Speyer Cathedral Trier: Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady Völklingen Ironworks Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen Southern Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch Town of Bamberg Frontiers of the Roman Empire:4 Upper Germanic & Rhaetian Limes Maulbronn Monastery Complex Margravial Opera House Bayreuth Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof Monastic Island of Reichenau Pilgrimage Church of Wies Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps5 1 Shared with the Netherlands 2 Shared with Slovakia and Ukraine 3 Shared with Poland 4 Shared with the United Kingdom 5 Shared with Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.