Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty, in full Liberty Enlightening the World, is a statue, given to the U.S. by France in the late 19th century, that stands at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor as a welcome to all returning Americans, visitors, and immigrants alike. The sculptor was Frederic Auguste Bartholdi; Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame) created the armature.

Smaller copies

A smaller-scale copy of the Statue of Liberty is found in Paris, France, where it stands near the Grenelle Bridge on the Île des Cygnes, an island in the river Seine ({{coor dms|48|51|0|N|2|16|47|E|}}). It looks towards the Atlantic Ocean and hence towards its "larger sister" in New York Harbor.

Related Topics:
Paris - Île des Cygnes - Seine

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From 1902 to 2002, visitors to midtown Manhattan were occasionally disoriented by what seemed to be an impossibly nearby view of the statue. They were seeing a 37-foot-high (11 m) replica located at 43 West 64th Street atop the Liberty Warehouse. In February 2002 the statue was removed by the building owners to allow building expansion. As of 2004 it is in storage at the Brooklyn Museum of Art awaiting relocation to the sculpture garden, announced for October, 2005. (See External Links below).

Related Topics:
1902 - 2002 - As of 2004 - October - 2005

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Between 1949 and 1951, approximately two hundred 100-inch (2.54 m) replicas of the statue, made of stamped copper, were purchased by Boy Scout troops and donated to various towns in the United States. The mass-produced statues are not great art nor meticulously accurate (a conservator notes that "her face isn’t as mature as the real Liberty. It’s rounder and more like a little girl’s"), but they are cherished, particularly since 9/11. Many have been lost or destroyed, but preservationists have been able to account for about a hundred of them, and BSA Troop 101 of Cheyenne, Wyoming has collected photographs of over fifty of them (see External Links below).

Related Topics:
1949 - 1951 - 9/11

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There is a half-size replica at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada (see photo). A 35-meter copy is found in the German theme park Heidepark Soltau, located on a lake with cruising Mississippi steamboats.

Related Topics:
New York-New York Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas, Nevada

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Another replica is the Bordeaux Statue of Liberty. This 2.5-meter (8-foot) statue is found in the city of Bordeaux in Southwest France . The first Bordeaux statue was taken down and melted by the Germans in World War II. The statue was replaced in 2000 and a plaque was added to commemorate the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. On the night of March 25, 2003, unknown vandals poured red paint and gasoline on the replica and set it on fire. The vandals also cracked the pedestal of the plaque honoring victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The mayor of Bordeaux, former prime minister Alain Juppé, condemned the attack. There is another good replica in Northwest of France, in the small town of Barentin near Rouen. It was made for a French movie, Le Cerveau ("the brain"), directed by Gérard Oury and featuring actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Bourvil.

Related Topics:
Bordeaux - France - World War II - September 11 terrorist attacks - March 25 - Alain Juppé - Rouen - Jean-Paul Belmondo

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A bronze sculpture of the Statue of Liberty is on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York city.

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During the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989, Chinese student demonstrators in Beijing built a 10-meter version of the Statue of Liberty to symbolize their struggle. They called it the Goddess of Democracy.

Related Topics:
Tiananmen Square protest of 1989 - Beijing - Goddess of Democracy

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In Japan, a small Statue of Liberty is also a well-known symbol of the Amerika-mura (American Village) shopping district in Osaka, Japan. Another replica 'Jiyuu no Megami' (自由の女神, lit. 'Goddess of Freedom', the Japanese name for the Statue) stands near the only beach in Tokyo at Odaiba.

Related Topics:
Japan - Amerika-mura - Osaka - Japanese - Tokyo - Odaiba

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A 12-meter replica of the Statue of Liberty in Colmar, the city of Bartholdi's birth, was dedicated on July 4, 2004 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death. It stands at the north entrance of the city.

Related Topics:
Colmar - July 4 - 2004

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A smaller replica is standing in the Norwegian village of Visnes, where the copper used in the original statue was mined from.

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A replica stands atop the Hotel Victory in Prishtina, Kosovo.

Related Topics:
Prishtina - Kosovo

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A LEGO replica of the Statue of Liberty consisting of 2882 bricks and standing 90cm is a popular sculpture among LEGO enthusiasts. The statue went out of production, but due to popular demand was returned to sale.

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