The knight Roland Statue stands in frontof the Town Hall of Stendal in the Market Square. Such statues were erected inthe Middle Ages as a symbol of liberties granted to the city. They meant thatthe city was not subordinated to any feudal lord and was under the directcontrol of the Emperor. It’s curious that the Roland Statue in Stendal was installed inthe square in 1525. Stendal by that time lost the status of a free town, andthe Hanseatic League, to which it belonged, actually collapsed.
The Rolandof Stendal is the third in Germany in size. The height of the monument is 7.8meters and the knight’s height - 5.41 meters. This is a copy of the originalmonument, which was returned to the square in 1974. However, this Roland isalso surrounded with legends and popular beliefs. Thus, it has been commonlybelieved since the Middle Ages that the "Stendal Roland" comes off thepedestal at night and wanders around the square, frightening the townspeople inthe dark.