Le Lion de Bartholdi

As early as 1871, the Belfort municipal council voted a credit to raise a monument in memory and as a token of gratitude to the victims of the memorable siege of 1870–71 and informed the Colmar sculptor Bartholdi of its wish. The following year he proposed using the grandiose rock that dominates Belfort and gives it its quite exceptional character, and set out his project of a monument representing, in colossal form, a harassed lion, cornered and still terrible in its fury. These proposals, accepted in 1873, underwent many revisions linked essentially to the Lion's attitude. The expense, estimated at 50,000 francs, was to be covered by a national subscription. Work began in 1876 and was considerably delayed by material difficulties (extraction, cutting and placing of the stone) and the harshness of successive winters. The gigantic Lion, completed in 1880, measures 22 m long by 11 m high; it was listed as a Historic Monument in 1931.

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