ABOUT THE STATUE:
The bronze statue depicts Karl II in military uniform, with breeches, above-the-knee boots, and a knee-length military coat buttoned down to the waist. A best is worn on top of the coat and is cinched at the waist. He has a sword in his right hand and the sword is pointing toward the ground. His left arm is held out toward the left of his body at a 90-degree angle and the index finger on his left hand is pointing. According to Wikipedia (
visit link) , he is pointing toward Russia. The statue stands atop a rectangular stone plinth. At the base of the plinth are four bronze mortars, one on each corner of the plinth's base.
A historical marker by the statue provides the following history about the statue in Swedish:
"Karl XII
Statyn, som föreställer Karl XII (1682-1718, konung från 1697), är modellerad av Johan Peter Molin (1814-73). Den avtäcktes den 30 november 1868, på 150-årsdagen av Karl XII:s död vid Fredrikshald i Norge. Statyn göts på Kungsholmen av nürnbergbronsgjutaren Heroldt och bronsvikten är 2,5 ton.
Monumentet tillkom på initiativ av bland andra publicisten August Sohlman och den liberale politikern och författaren August Blanche, och bekostades genom en insamling bland allmänheten.
De fyra mörsarna som omger statyn är gjutna i Dresden 1678 och erövrades av Karl XII när svenskarna återtog fästningen Neumünde vid Riga från sachsarna den 11 december 1701. Relieferna på pjäserna föreställer Proserpinas bortrövande.
Statyn förvaltas av Statens fastighetsverk."
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Charles XII
The statue, which depicts Charles XII (1682-1718, king from 1697), was=s modeled by Johan Peter Molin (1814-73). It was unveiled November 30, 1868, on the 150th anniversary of Charles's death at Fredrikshald in Norway. The statue was cast in the Kungsholmen district of Nuremberg by bronze caster Heroldt and bronze weight is 2.5 tonnes.
The monument was established on the initiative of, among others, publicist August Sohlman and the liberal politician and author August Blanche, and funded by a collection among the public.
The four mortars that surround the statue were cast in Dresden in 1678 and conquered by Charles XII when the Swedes retook the fortress Neumünde at Riga from the Saxons 11 December 1701. The reliefs on the pieces represent Proserpina's abduction.
The statue is managed by the National Property Board.
ABOUT THE MAN:
"Charles XII, also Carl (Swedish: Karl XII; 17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718), Latinized to Carolus Rex, was the King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of Wittelsbach. Charles was the only surviving son of Charles XI and Ulrika Eleonora the Elder. He assumed power, after a seven-month caretaker government, at the age of fifteen.
In 1700, a triple alliance of Denmark–Norway, Saxony–Poland–Lithuania and Russia launched a threefold attack on the Swedish protectorate of Swedish Holstein-Gottorp and provinces of Livonia and Ingria, aiming to draw advantage as Sweden was unaligned and ruled by a young and inexperienced king, thus initiating the Great Northern War. Leading the formidable Swedish army against the alliance, by 1706 Charles had forced all of his foes into submission except Russia.
Charles' subsequent march on Moscow ended with the dismemberment of the Swedish army at Poltava and Perevolochna, and he spent the following years in exile in the Ottoman Empire before returning to lead an assault on Norway, trying to evict the Danish king from the war once more in order to aim all his forces at the Russians. Two failed campaigns concluded with his death at the Siege of Fredriksten in 1718. At the time, most of the Swedish Empire was under foreign military occupation, though Sweden itself was still free. This situation was later formalized, albeit moderated in the subsequent Treaty of Nystad. The close would see not only the end of the Swedish Empire but also of its effectively organized absolute monarchy and war machine, commencing a parliamentarian government unique for continental Europe, which would last for half a century until royal autocracy was restored by Gustav III.
Charles was an exceptionally skilled military leader and tactician as well as an able politician, credited with introducing important tax and legal reforms. As for his famous reluctance towards peace efforts, he is quoted by Voltaire as saying upon the outbreak of the war; "I have resolved never to start an unjust war but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies". With the war consuming more than half his life and nearly all his reign, he never married and fathered no children, and was succeeded by his sister Ulrika Eleonora, who in turn was coerced to hand over all substantial powers to the Riksdag of the Estates and opted to surrender the throne to her husband, who became King Frederick I of Sweden."
--Wikipedia (
visit link)