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A lion’s roar

The lion’s tail is elegantly draped on a keystone in the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady); the bifurcation of the tail indicates that it is a Bohemian lion. When the Frauenkirche was built Upper Lusatia and thus Görlitz were part of Bohemia – adding the keystone was a way to pay the honours to the sovereign in Prague. Another Bohemian lion with its characteristic tail graces the fountain at Obermarkt (Upper Market). But since in 1625 Upper Lusatia became part of Saxony the sculptor showed – politically correct – the herald carrying the electorial saxonian coat of arms in front of the Bohemian beast.