If you are ever in Colmar, go and see the Replica of the Statue of liberty, positioned in the middle of a busy roundabout on Route de Strasbourg (D83), just north of Colmar.
It is a meaningful tribute to a hometown hero, called Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, and a powerful symbol of liberty.
Bartholdi's original project was for a lighthouse for the Port of Suez in Egypt. Bartholdi came up with a design of a woman holding up a lamp, and it was to be called 'Liberty Enlightening the World'. However the project was cancelled. He adapted this design for a sculpture that was to be created as a gift from France to America to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the American republic. America was to build the pedestal and France the actual statue itself. It was a massive project and feat of engineering involving the engineer Gustave Eiffel. Meanwhile, in America there were problems with financing for the pedestal, however, Josef Pullitzer started a fundraising campaign. The statue was finally opened in New York on 28th October 1886, 10 year behind schedule. Bartholdi was overcome with emotion as it was a huge project to see through from the beginning till the end.
