Hermann Heights Monument

New Ulm, Minnesota, United States

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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Hermann Heights Monument in New Ulm, Minnesota, is a copper statue of the Cheruscan chieftain Hermann (Arminius) on a domed base, 102 feet overall according to the Minnesota Historical Society. The Sons of Hermann dedicated it in 1897; the city reported structural problems in April 2026.

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Hermann Heights Monument

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Approximate location · 44.313° N, 94.460° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Above the Minnesota River Valley, a copper warrior with a raised sword has been New Ulm's landmark since 1897. Hermann, known to the Romans as Arminius, was a Cheruscan chieftain who, according to Roman sources, led three Roman legions into a trap in 9 CE. Julius Berndt, one of the founders of New Ulm, persuaded the Sons of Hermann, a German American society, to fund a monument like the one completed near Detmold, Germany, in 1875, and he designed it himself.

The statue was made by Alphonz Pelzer of the W. H. Mullins Manufacturing Company in Salem, Ohio, from copper sheeting over a steel frame. The cornerstone was laid on 24 June 1888 and the statue was completed in 1889, but it sat in storage while money for the base was raised. The Sons of Hermann dedicated the monument on 25 September 1897.

The Minnesota Historical Society gives the overall height as 102 feet, with the statue 32 feet from sword tip to toe, and calls it one of the largest copper-sheet statues in the United States. The base contains a spiral staircase up to a platform beneath the statue's feet and a small museum on Hermann and the monument's history, but public access inside is currently closed. The City of New Ulm has owned the site since 1929. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973; the statue was removed for repairs in 2004 and returned to its pedestal in 2005.

Its future is now uncertain. In April 2026 the city's parks director told WCCO that the foundation is failing and becoming a public hazard, put repairs at about $11 million, and said the city was asking lawmakers for help. The Hermann Monument Society's website says the grounds are open but climbing access is closed, and the New Ulm Journal reported in April 2026 that the city closed the interior to the public as unsafe.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

The Hermann Monument Society's website says the monument grounds are open but climbing and public access inside the monument are closed. The New Ulm Journal reported in April 2026 that the city closed the monument to the public after an engineer found the interior unsafe. View the statue from outside.

ACCESS

In Hermann Heights Park on the bluffs above New Ulm, a city-owned park. The Hermann Monument Society's website says the grounds are open but public access inside the monument is closed, so the statue is seen from outside.

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Find another Big Thing nearby

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37 km away

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