5/5 Ahmad A. 3 years ago on Google • 102 reviews
The
Lessing
monument
stands
on
Lennéstrasse
in
the
extreme
southeast
of
the
Großer
Tiergarten
in
Berlin-Tiergarten.
The
ensemble
of
statue
and
base
with
fountain
bowls,
reliefs
and
allegorical
bronze
figures
is
seven
meters
high
in
total.
In
1863,
the
Berlin
magistrate
decided
to
honor
three
celebrities
of
German
intellectual
life
-
Friedrich
Schiller,
Johann
Wolfgang
von
Goethe
and
Gotthold
Ephraim
Lessing
-
with
a
joint
monument
in
Berlin.
This
plan
was
not
put
into
action.
A
Schiller
monument
on
the
Gendarmenmarkt,
designed
by
Reinhold
Begas,
was
built
between
1868
and
1871,
and
a
Goethe
monument
by
Fritz
Schaper
was
inaugurated
in
the
Großer
Tiergarten
in
1880.
Finally,
in
1886,
a
committee
led
by
Carl
Robert
Lessing
called
for
a
competition
for
a
Lessing
monument;
The
initiator
was
a
great-nephew
of
the
poet
and
the
main
owner
of
the
Vossische
Zeitung,
for
which
his
ancestor
had
written
from
1751
to
1755.
27
artists
took
part
in
the
competition.
Otto
Lessing,
a
nephew
of
the
committee
chairman
and
a
successful
sculptor,
received
the
commission,
but
had
to
change
his
design
first
-
the
base
seemed
too
simple
to
the
clients.
On
the
other
hand,
at
the
request
of
Kaiser
Wilhelm
I,
who
had
assessed
the
sketches,
the
figure
of
a
sphinx
on
the
back
of
the
base
was
omitted.
The
monument's
construction
lasted
from
1887
to
1890
and
it
was
inaugurated
on
October
14,
1890.
In
this
context,
Otto
Lessing
received
the
title
of
professor.
The
white
marble
statue
of
the
poet
is
three
meters
high.
The
gray
granite
podium
and
the
reddish
granite
base
together
reach
a
height
of
four
meters.
The
sculptures
and
the
inscription
panels
on
the
base
are
made
of
bronze.
In
the
middle
part
of
the
base
four
asymmetrically
framed
cartouches
can
be
seen:
on
the
front
of
the
monument
the
name
Gotthold
Ephraim
Lessing,
on
the
remaining
sides
reliefs
of
the
heads
of
Moses
Mendelssohn,
Ewald
Christian
von
Kleist
and
Friedrich
Nicolai.
These
three
-
the
philosopher,
the
poet
and
the
writer
and
publisher
-
were
among
Lessing's
friends
and
intellectual
allies.
On
the
front
and
back,
below
the
cartouches,
you
can
see
fully
sculptural,
allegorical
figures
with
symbolic
additions:
at
the
front,
under
the
nameplate,
the
figure
of
a
young
man
as
a
genius
of
humanity
with
a
flaming
sacrificial
bowl,
harp
and
laurel
wreath,
as
well
as
a
tablet
with
the
essential
sentences
of
the
ring
parable
from
Lessing's
piece
Nathan
the
wise;
accordingly
on
the
reverse
is
the
allegory
of
criticism
-
a
winged
boy
wielding
a
scourge,
surrounded
by
books,
scrolls
and
a
lion's
skin
and
accompanied
by
an
owl,
the
symbol
of
wisdom.
On
the
left
and
right
of
the
monument
there
were
bronze
grotesque
dolphin
heads
as
gargoyles
above
a
small
fountain
bowl.
The
monument
repeatedly
suffered
from
theft
and
vandalism.
In
1923,
the
tail
of
the
bronze
lion
on
the
back
was
stolen
and
later
added
again.
During
the
Second
World
War,
the
cast
iron
accessories
-
decorative
grilles,
benches
and
flower
pots
-
were
removed
-
they
were
most
likely
melted
down.
The
portrait
reliefs
and
the
gargoyles
disappeared
after
the
end
of
the
war.
After
1961,
the
facility
was
located
directly
next
to
the
Berlin
Wall
on
an
unused
and
unprotected
site;
The
remaining
bronze
parts
were
stored
in
a
depot
and
survived
the
decades
until
the
fall
of
the
Wall.
In
1987
-
on
the
occasion
of
Berlin's
750th
anniversary
celebrations
and
in
1991/92,
the
monument
was
fundamentally
renovated
and
expanded,
and
the
monument
square
was
given
back
its
historical
form.
But
even
after
that,
there
were
further
thefts
-
the
new
gargoyles
were
lost,
as
was
the
scourge
of
criticism.
The
statue
of
the
poet
and
the
bronze
figures
on
the
base
were
repeatedly
defaced
by
paint
daubs.
Cleaning
takes
place
at
larger
intervals.
5 people found this review helpful 👍
