3-016-820 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Idstedt Lion at Flensburg, monument of the Schleswig-Holstein-War of 1850, (1864). 'The Engraving represents the colossal bronze lion erected in the cemetery at Flensburg as a monument of the Danish soldiers killed in the important battle of Idstedt, in 1850, when 28,000 Danes met and defeated the German army of nearly equal numbers, and put an end to the Schleswig-Holstein war of that time. The monument was designed by Professor Bissen, of Copenhagen, himself a native of Schleswig. It was finished and publicly erected in 1862. The lion, with the shield of Schleswig, is supported on a massive granite pedestal, with suitable inscription and designs in bas-relief on its sides. Since the Austrians and Prussians entered Flensburg, in February last, more than one attempt has been clandestinely made by the partisans of Germany to destroy this monument; and a party of workmen from Altona contrived one night to push the lion several feet from its proper place, but they were not strong enough to remove him altogether from the pedestal. It is understood, however, that the Prussian military authorities have promised that this shall be done'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.