St. Barbara

St. Barbara stands at the western end of Plagwitz district park in Leipzig, near Industriestraße and Gießerstraße. A slight rise sets the monument above the surrounding paths.

A square granite column rises about two and a half metres, recalling Plagwitz’s foundry and mechanical-engineering history. Its front lists Gebrüder Brehmer, Rudolph Sack, Schumann & Co and other local firms. Oval bronze plaques mark 150 years of Leipzig foundry history, while another inscription connects the monument with Expo 2000. The project was unveiled on 24 May 2000, after an idea from the Association of German Foundry Experts’ Saxony and Thuringia group. Heinrich Moshage’s earlier St. Barbara provided the model, and the Lauchhammer art foundry cast the bronze figure.

The granite column now stands without its statue, which was stolen, and graffiti has repeatedly marked its surface. St. Barbara’s connection with miners and foundry workers links Christian legend directly to Plagwitz’s industrial past. The most tangible detail remains the long company list carved across the front, preserving the names of businesses that shaped Leipzig’s machinery and foundries.