The Polish army, returning to the country under General Wincenty Krasinski in 1814, stopped in Leipzig to take the body of Prince Józef Poniatowski back to his homeland. Then, again on the initiative of General Aleksander Rożniecki (who had already erected a quadrilateral stone block on the right bank of the Elster, near the landing of the hero's corpse, in December 1813), a monument was founded, situated on the left bank of this small river. It was located in the garden first belonging to a certain Reichenbach and then (from 1827) to Wilhelm Gerhard, known for his extensive interests, including gardening. The latter monument, made of stone in the shape of a cuboid and placed on a two-stepped pedestal, somewhat resembled a sarcophagus and measured 422 x 285 x 160 cm. Originally it was probably surrounded by a pool, but later received an atmospheric setting of a group of trees.

On the front and back walls were plaques flanked by figures of eagles, respectively bearing the inscriptions: "To Xięciu Józef Poniatowskie" and "Returned Poles to Their Commander". The side walls bore the family coat of arms of Prince Ciołek on one side, and the inscription "Woysko Polskie" on the other. After the death of Gerhard (who exhibited his accumulated mementos of the duke in the pavilion built there), the garden survived a few more years unchanged, before being parcelled out in the 1860s. The sarcophagus ended up on the plot of the master mason Pausch, who handed it over to the town council in 1865; a year later the monument was moved to Lessing Street. In 1875, restoration work was carried out at the expense of the Galician Land Department; at that time, the monument changed visibly, especially in the upper part, whose central decorative element became a finial in the shape of a helmet lying on a cushion. Four corners and numerous Latin and Polish inscriptions were also added. It was dismantled on 22 December 1939. In 1867, one of the streets in Leipzig, near the place of his death (Poniatowskistrasse; the name was changed by the Nazis on 28 July 1933), was named after the prince. The exact appearance of the monument and its original setting (i.e. the Reichenbach-Gerhard garden) is reflected, among other things, in a lithograph by Sigmund Vogel from 1820. It depicts the sarcophagus at a slight angle, on a two-stepped plinth, surrounded by trees and shrubs. Poniatowski's places of worship, in Leipzig and near Leipzig, were visited by numerous Poles in the 19th century. Konstanty Gaszyński commemorated such a pilgrimage in 1832 with the poem 'Wspomnienie młodości, przy pomniku księcia Józefa Poniatowskiego w Lipsku'; Kornel Ujejski wrote the poem 'Przy pomniku ks. Józefa Poniatowskiego w Lipsku' in 1848.

In the nearby Poniatowski Square stands a low obelisk in honour of the prince. It survived the Second World War, unlike the monument mentioned earlier. It was cleared by the Polish Army in 1945 and restored by the Leipzig authorities in 1963 (for the 150th anniversary of the battle), after which it was moved to its present location. On the main slabs is a Latin inscription with a brief history of the prince's life and death. At the base of the monument the Polish text: "KSIĄŻĘ JÓZEF PONIATOWSKI 6.V.1761 - 19.X.1813" and next to it: "THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE POLISH ARMY DIED IN THE CURRENTS OF THE ELSTER". On the 200th anniversary of the death of Prince Poniatowski, the head of the Office for Veterans and Victims of Repression Jan Stanisław Ciechanowski laid a wreath at the monument.