Bremen Roland - Wikipedia

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

Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Statue of Roland on the market square
Criteria	Cultural: iii, iv, vi
Reference	1087
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. In July 2004, along with the town hall, the statue was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Legend

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

^ "Roland (statue)" in German Wikipedia; a further statue stands in Rolândia in southern Brazil.

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	ADGB Trade Union School Berlin Modernism Housing Estates Bremen Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace Fagus Factory in Alfeld Hedeby and the Danevirke Archaeological Border Complex St. Mary's Cathedral and St. Michael's Church at Hildesheim Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin Hanseatic City of Lübeck Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus in Hamburg Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar
Central	Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm ~~Dresden Elbe Valley~~ (delisted in 2009) Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region¹ Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski² Naumburg Cathedral Collegiate Church, Castle, and Old Town of Quedlinburg Wartburg Castle Classical Weimar
Western	Aachen Cathedral Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at Brühl Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe Cologne Cathedral Carolingian Westwork and Civitas Corvey Lower Germanic Limes⁶ Upper Middle Rhine Valley Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier Speyer Cathedral ShUM cities of Speyer, Worms and Mainz Great Spa Towns of Europe⁸ Völklingen Ironworks Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen
Southern	Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier Augsburg Water Management System Town of Bamberg Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt Frontiers of the Roman Empire in Bavaria⁷ Frontiers of the Roman Empire:³ Upper Germanic & Rhaetian Limes Maulbronn Monastery Complex Margravial Opera House Monastic Island of Reichenau Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof Pilgrimage Church of Wies Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps⁴ Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square
Natural	Messel Pit Fossil Site Ancient Beech Forests⁵ Wadden Sea⁶
¹ Shared with the Czech Republic ² Shared with Poland ³ Shared with the United Kingdom ⁴ Shared with Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland ⁵ Shared with Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine ⁶ Shared with the Netherlands and Denmark ⁷ Shared with Austria and Slovakia ⁸ Shared with France, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Italy, UK

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