The surprising French history of the Statue of Liberty

When you leave the highway to visit Colmar in France, on the way to the city, a statue in the middle will remind you that this was the hometown of the sculptor of probably one of the most known statues in the modern world: The Statue of Liberty.

Bartholdi

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, born and raised in Colmar in a family with Italian and German roots, served in the war between the French Empire and the German Prussian states in 1870. He defended his hometown Colmar against the German forces, but to his regret, they were defeated and the region was annexed by the German Empire. After the defeat to the Prussians, Bartholdi found an outlet for his anger in the form of sculpting monuments to honor the French heroism in the war.

Before the war, anti-slavery supporter and supporter of the Union cause in the American civil war Edouard René de Laboulaye suggested the idea to Bartholdi of a gift representing freedom on behalf of France to the United States.

Even though Bartholdi was occupied during the war, he kept the idea of his good friend in the back of his mind and when he visited the United States after the war, he met with influential Americans who supported his idea and found the site to place his future statue. When Bartholdi made the project public in 1875, the general reaction from the French people was mostly positive, even though most of them didn't like the fact that the United States didn't interfere during the Franco-Prussian war.

The Statue of Liberty

After fundraising of over 1 million francs from the French people and 10 years later, the statue called "Liberty Enlightening the World", named after the goddess Libertas, arrived in the harbor of New York in 214 crates.

Bartholdi opted to give the statue a peaceful appearance, holding the flame that represents progress, instead of a revolutionary Liberty as in the famous painting from Delacroix. Both he and Edouard René de Laboulaye were not supporters of revolutionary ideas.

The pedestal to place the statue was paid by the United States. For a moment it looked like the necessary money would not be raised, but the legendary newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer made a call to the general public to donate whatever they could, and the names of all contributors would be printed in the New York World. This inspired the New Yorkers and the donations came in from all layers of the society.

On October 28th of 1886, the ceremony to present the reassembled statue to the public was led by President Grover Cleveland and the torch of the famous statue was illuminated.

Bartholdi died at the age of 70 of tuberculosis. His former family home in Colmar became the Bartholdi museum and expositions multiple works of the artist.