On the western edge of the old cemetery, which extends around the Schleifer church, there are two memorials commemorating the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. The eye-catching obelisk made of sandstone is a four-metre-high obelisk which – as the signature on the side of the stone shows – was created by the stonemason Bruno Modrack from Slamen near Spremberg. Three bronze elements adorn the monument: at the bottom there is a round medallion showing the portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm I, in the middle there is an Iron Cross and at the top the Prussian eagle sits enthroned on an imperial orb. In gold letters it says on the obelisk that it was erected “in memory of the glorious years 1870-71” on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Schleifer Military Association on July 14, 1912. A newspaper report on this event states that Count Arnim from Muskau and Reichstag member Dr. Hegenscheidt had promoted the construction of the monument and that the consecration was carried out by Schleifer pastor Matthäus Handrick as part of a meeting of representatives of the Lower Silesian-Lusatian Military District Association in the presence of 40 military associations and numerous distinguished guests. According to the German inscription on the monument, the consecration of the monument also seems to have taken place entirely in German.
Source: Website of the Evangelical Church Community of Schleife