Schill-Gedenkstein

The Schill monument (a memorial site) is a memorial to Major Ferdinand von Schill, the initiator of the national uprising in 1809 against the Napoleonic foreign rule. On April 29, 1809, Ferdinand von Schill crossed the Baumgarten Bridge with his hussars and pushed on further northwards through Saxony and the Altmark region up the River Elbe.
A relic - also in memory of Schill - stands in front of the Baumgartenbrück Restaurant. It is a machined section of the trunk from Schill’s old linden tree. Legend has it that the Prussian Major Ferdinand von Schill is said to have leaned against this linden tree on the mountain above today’s Baumgartenbrück Restaurant some 200 years again as he swore in his men to fight against the French occupier. The destroyed linden tree was replaced by a new tree.

The town of Geltow has celebrated Schill’s heritage since the end of the 1980s. The town even has its own "Schillstrasse" dedicated to the Major. In 2009, to mark the 200th anniversary of Schill’s march, there was a commemorative bivouac with thousands of actors in historic uniforms.