The statue commemorates Marshal Blücher, whose troops crossed the wintry Rhine on the New Year's night of 1813/1814 at Pfalzgrafenstein Castle with the help of an erected pontoon bridge. In total, 60,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses, and 182 gunmen crossed the river. On June 18, 1894, the monument designed by the Berlin sculptor Prof. Friedrich Schaper was ceremoniously unveiled.