Mendelssohn-Denkmal

The Mendelssohn monument stands in Düsseldorf beside the Opernhaus, close to the Heinrich-Heine-Allee and the Hofgarten. It honours Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, who led the city’s music life as Generalmusikdirektor from 1833 to 1835. After leaving for Leipzig he kept strong ties to Düsseldorf until his death in 1847. The bronze statue shows the composer with a baton in his right hand and a score in his left resting on a music stand. The figure is one tonne in weight and two and a half metres tall, mounted on a two-part stone pedestal about one and a half metres high. The front of the upper section bears Mendelssohn’s name and his Düsseldorf title, while a bronze plaque on the left side gives details of the monument. Visitors find the statue beside the opera house entrance, framed by the Hofgarten’s lime trees and paths. The reconstructed work was rededicated in 2021 after a year of restoration work on its foundations. Nearby benches and the open lawns of the Hofgarten offer a quiet place to stand and look at the conductor caught in mid-gesture.