Nevertheless, according to recent research, the monument was created between 1164 and 1176, at the time when the Welf duke Henry the Lion (1129/31–1195), ruler of both Saxony and Bavaria, took his residence at Braunschweig.

Newly-married with the English princess Matilda,[2] he had Dankwarderode Castle built in the style of a Kaiserpfalz, rivalling with the nearby Imperial Palace of Goslar.

The lion statue was erected in the centre of the castle complex as seigniorial symbol of his ducal authority and jurisdiction, probably also as an expression of Henry's claim to power towards the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

The sculpture and its pedestal were extensively restored in 1616, under the rule of Duke Frederick Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, after long quarrels with the Braunschweig citizens were settled.

The threat by strategic bombing during World War II prompted the city administration to replace the original sculpture by a copy already cast in 1937.

Kept safe at the Rammelsberg mines in the Harz mountains, the original statue was brought back to Braunschweig by the British occupation forces after the war and re-installed in a festive ceremony.

Finally in 1980, the original statue was removed inside Dankwarderode Castle to protect it from further damages caused by air pollution.