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monument....
The Victory
Column (German:
Siegessäule (help·info),
from Sieg ‘victory’
+ Säule ‘column’)
is
a
monument
in Berlin,
Germany.
Designed
by Heinrich
Strack after
1864
to
commemorate
the Prussian victory
in
the Second
Schleswig
War,
by
the
time
it
was
inaugurated
on
2
September
1873,
Prussia
had
also
defeated
Austria
and
its
German
allies
in
the Austro-Prussian
War (1866)
and
France
in
the Franco-Prussian
War (1870–71),
giving
the
statue
a
new
purpose.
Different
from
the
original
plans,
these
later
victories
in
the
so-called unification
wars inspired
the
addition
of
the
bronze
sculpture
of Victoria,
the
Roman
goddess
of
victory,
8.3
metres
(27 ft)
high
and
weighing
35
tonnes,
designed
by Friedrich
Drake.
Berliners
have
given
the
statue
the
nickname Goldelse,
meaning
something
like
"Golden
Lizzy".
Built
on
a
base
of
polished
red
granite,
the
column
sits
on
a
hall
of
pillars
with
a
glass
mosaic
designed
by Anton
von
Werner.
The
column
itself,
designed
by Heinrich
Strack and
inspired
by
the
"lighthouse
of
Brescia"
which
stands
in
the Cimitero
Vantiniano,
the monumental
cemetery of Brescia,
consists
of
four
solid
blocks
of
sandstone,
three
of
which
are
decorated
by
cannon
barrels
captured
from
the
enemies
of
the
aforementioned
three
wars.
A
fourth
ring
is
decorated
with
golden
garlands
and
was
added
in
1938–39
when
the
whole
monument
was
relocated
to
its
present
position.
The
entire
column,
including
the
sculpture,
is
67
metres
(220 ft)
tall.
Werner
designed
the
original
hall
of
pillars
with
a
glass
mosaic.
The
foundation
is
decorated
with
four
bronze
reliefs
showing
the
three
wars
and
the
victorious
marching
of
the
troops
into
Berlin.
They
were
created
by:
Moritz
Schulz (1825–1904)
Karl
Keil (1838–89)
Alexander
Calandrelli (1834–1903)
and Albert
Wolff (1814–92)
The
relief
decoration
was
removed
in
1945.
It
was
restored
for
the
750th
anniversary
of
Berlin
in
1987
by
the
French
president
at
that
time, François
Mitterrand.
The
Victory
Column
originally
stood
in Königsplatz (now
Platz
der
Republik),
at
the
end
of
the Siegesallee (Victory
Avenue).
In
1939,
as
part
of
the
preparation
of
the
monumental
plans
to
redesign
Berlin
into Welthauptstadt
Germania,
the Nazis relocated
the
column
to
its
present
site
at
the Großer
Stern (Great
Star),
a
large
intersection
on
the
city
axis
that
leads
from
the
former Berliner
Stadtschloss (Berlin
City
Palace)
through
the Brandenburg
Gate to
the
western
parts
of
the
city.
At
the
same
time,
the
column
was
augmented
by
another
7.5
metres,
giving
it
its
present
height
of
66.89
metres.
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,
at
exactly
1,500
metres
(one
Roman
mile)
from
the
proposed
new
north-south
triumphal
way
of
the
Nazis
in
line
with
the
Imperial Victory
Avenue in
the Tiergarten –
was
destroyed
by
American
air
raids
in
1945.
Surrounded
by
a street
circle,
the
column
is
also
accessible
to
pedestrians
through
four
tunnels,
built
in
1941
to
plans
by Albert
Speer who
likewise
increased
the
width
of
the
road
between
it
and
the
Brandenburg
Gate
and
designed
the
new
Germania
which
was
scheduled
for
construction
after
the
victory
obtained
in
the
war.
Via
a
steep
spiral
staircase
of
281
steps,
the
physically
fit
may,
for
a
fee,
climb
almost
to
the
top
of
the
column,
to
just
under
the
statue
and
take
in
the
views
over
the Tiergarten including
the Soviet
War
Memorial,
1946,
in
line
with
the
Nazi
proposed
north-south
triumphal
way
by
Speer
and Adolf
Hitler.
Source
:
Wikipedia
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