A replica of the Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel was donated to the city by Denny Warta.

The original Lion-man figurine, also known as the Löwenmensch figurine, is a prehistoric ivy sculpture discovered in a cave located in the Hohlenstein-Stadel region of Germany in 1939. The sculpture is a little over a foot tall and is believed to depict a human with the head of a cave lion. Carbon dating places the original sculpture at between 35,000 and 41,000 years old.

Warta said this make the figurine the oldest works of art made by humans.

“The human mind can hardly comprehend something that old,” Warta said. More importantly, Warta was impressed that humans had the skills and the tools to carve the figurine out of a mammoth tusk.

A 1-to-1 scale replica of the Lion-man sculpture was donated to the city of New Ulm. The original Lion-man statue was discovered in a German cave in 1939. The original figurine is on display in Ulm, Germany.

The original Lion-man statue is currently on display in Ulm, Germany at the Museum Ulm. For years, Warta had hoped to provide New Ulm with a replica of this historic figurine

“I’ve been working on this for sometime,” Warta said. “I did not want an ordinary copy of it. I wanted a copy as close as possible to the original.”

The replica he donated was designed at an art school in Hamburg, Germany and was made as close to the original as possible. New Ulm’s figurine is the same size as the original with near identical cuts to match.

The city of New Ulm formally accepted the donated figurine during Tuesday’s city council meeting. The Lion-man replica will added to a display case at City Hall.

Warta said is was a real privilege and pleasure to present the figurine to the city.