The Belfort Lion

Born on 2 August 1834 in Colmar, Bartholdi, also the creator of the famous Statue of Liberty, sculpted the Belfort Lion in 1880. This emblematic masterpiece was erected in remembrance of the debt owed to the victims of the siege of 1870-71.

Bartholdi sensed that France required more than a commemorative plaque, that what was needed was a symbol of the courage and bravery of the people of Belfort, a monument around which the city as a whole could regroup. His choice was the Lion.

Bartholdi suggested that the rock, so huge and dominant over the city of Belfort be used, thus conferring to the sculpture its exceptional character. The gigantic lion, carved from the red sandstone of the Vosges, is 22 m long and 11 m high, and was classified as a "Historical Monument" in 1931.

This majestic, proud lion has become the emblem of the city. Bartholdi succeeded in his endeavour to make Belfort the "City of the Lion".