The knight with the double-carved year

A knight in ornate plate armor holds a heavy sword aloft, his other hand steadying a curved shield against his leg. This is the Roland of Perleberg, a sandstone sentinel standing 5.50 metres tall on the northeastern side of the Großer Markt. The statue reflects the style of the late 16th or early 17th century, with a curved shield, headgear, and an ornate harness.

Records of this figure first appear in council minutes in 1498. The ledgers of the time note a cost of twenty marks for the work, with the master craftsman receiving fifteen. Because of the antiquity of these records, many suspect the original Roland was made of wood. In medieval cities, such statues served as more than just decoration; they were symbols of civic freedom and the right of the town to administer its own justice.

By 1546, the town of Perleberg secured a significant new status with the establishment of the Land Court for Prignitz. It was in this same year that Johannes Konow was appointed as the first judge of the court. The current statue features a double-carved year of 1546 on a pillar at its back, and once more on the front edge of its octagonal base. Whether the stone figure was newly commissioned or simply refurbished to match the grandeur of the new court remains a point of historical debate.

While the figure remains largely intact, it has required intervention throughout the ages. In the 19th century, craftsmen had to repair the sword and the nose after vandals took to damaging the stone features. In 1954, the statue was moved approximately 1.60 metres toward the town hall to make room for the increasing flow of traffic on the former F5 road.

The octagonal base of the Roland is home to scenes from the Heracles legend, though the reliefs are now so weathered they are barely recognizable. To see what these figures might have looked like in their prime, one can visit the local museum to view a reconstruction drawing of the figures.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons