Berlin Victory Column
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Berlin Siegessäule (June 2003) |
The
Victory Column (
German:
Siegessäule) is one of the more famous sights of
Berlin. Designed by
Heinrich Strack after
1864 to commemorate the
Prussian victory in the
Danish-Prussian war, by the time it was inaugurated on
2 September 1873 Prussia had also defeated Austria in the
Austro-Prussian War and France in the
Franco-Prussian War (1870/1871), giving the statue a new purpose. Different from the original plans, these later victories inspired the addition of the bronze sculpture of
Victoria, 8.3 meters high and weighing 35 tonnes, designed by
Friedrich Drake. Berliners, with their fondness for disrespectful names of famous buildings, call the statue
Goldelse, meaning something like "golden Lizzy".
Anchored on a solid fundament of polished red granite, the column sits on a hall of pillars with a glass mosaic designed by Anton von Werner. The column itself consists of three solid blocks of sandstone, which are decorated by cannon pipes captured from the enemies of the aforementioned three wars. A relief decoration on the foundation, which had to be removed on request of the victorious allied forces in
1945, was restored in the
1980s.
Surrounded by a
street circle with heavy car traffic, pedestrians can reach the column through four tunnels, built in
1941 to plans by
Johannes Huntenmueller. Via a steep spiral staircase of 285 steps, the physically fit may climb up almost to the top of the pillar, to right underneath the statue, for a small fee and a spectacular view over the
Tiergarten.
Even many Berliners do not know that originally the column was erected with a height of merely 50.66 meters opposite the
Reichstag building. In preparation of executing the monumental plans to redesign Berlin into
Welthauptstadt Germania, in
1939, the
Nazis relocated the pillar to its present location at the
Großer Stern (Great Star), a large intersection on the visual city axis that leads from the former
Berlin City Palace through the
Brandenburg Gate to the western parts of Berlin. At the same time, the pillar was augmented by another 7.5 meters, giving it its present height of 66.89 meters. The monument survived
World War II without much damage. The relocation of the monument probably saved it from destruction, as its old site in front of the Reichstag was completely destroyed in the war.
The column is featured in
Wim Wenders' film
Wings of Desire as being a place where angels congregate. The golden statue atop the column was featured in the music video to
U2's "
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" and inspired
Paul van Dyk's 1998
trance music hit, "For an Angel". "
El Ángel" in
Mexico City bears a more than passing resemblance to the Berlin victory column, while both echo the earlier examples of the victory column crowned by an angel, notably the
Alexander Column in
Saint Petersburg.
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Structurae: Siegessäule
