Leopold's Column at the Berger Rücken

Against the Berger Rücken skyline, a Neoclassical stone rises from a square base. The Leopoldsäule contains a Latin inscription and honors the penultimate emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, built in 1790.

Landgrave Wilhelm IX of Hessen-Kassel initiated the construction of the memorial. To secure his own hopes of being granted the dignity of a Prince-Elector, he established a massive military camp on the Wartfeld. From September 23 to October 17, 1790, 6,000 men guarded the ridge against French troops. The encampment extended nearly two kilometers from the Landgraben in Bergen to the junction of the old Alten Frankfurter Straße and Friedberger Landstraße.

While the Emperor received his crown at the Frankfurt Cathedral on October 9, attended by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Metternich, Wilhelm IX commanded the heights. On October 11, he hosted the Emperor and Prince-electors in Turkish tents. Roughly 40,000 spectators watched the feast. A tent stone from the feast still exists today, located directly next to the column.

Ancient movement defines this ground. The Hohe Straße near the column is part of the historical Via Regia trade route, which led from Mainz over Frankfurt to Silesia. Older Roman paths from Nida and likely from the Roman baths at Bad Vilbel passed over the Wartberg. The soil remembers the heavy tread of 35,000 French and 28,000 Prussians who clashed nearby during the Battle of Bergen in 1759.

Now, the monument rests in the northwest corner of the Seckbach substation after being moved in 1962. It is located at the Wartfeld, where the headquarters of the military command was once situated. The Berger Warte, where the column stands, is the highest point in the Frankfurt city area at 212.4 meters above sea level. It overlooks the landscape where 300 cannons once fired a salute for the election on September 30.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons