The Bismarck Memorial (german: Bismarck-Nationaldenkmal) is a prominent memorial statue in the Tiergarten in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

dedicated to Prince Otto von Bismarck,

Minister President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

and the first Chancellor of the German Empire. It was sculpted by Reinhold Begas. It is one of 250 memorials to Bismarck worldwide. This memorial in Berlin portrays Bismarck in his ceremonial garb as Chancellor standing above statues of: *

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

, showing Germany's world power status at the end of the 19th century; * Siegfried, forging a sword to show Germany's strong industrial and military might; * Germania pinning underfoot a panther, symbolizing the suppression of discord and rebellion; *a

sibyl The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local tradi ...

reclining on a

sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

and reading the book of history. The statue, along with the famous

Berlin victory column The Victory Column (german: , 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 ...

, were once located in front of the Reichstag building before they were moved in 1938 by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in his project to recast Berlin as

Welthauptstadt Germania Welthauptstadt Germania () or World Capital Germania was the projected renewal of the German capital Berlin during the Nazi period, part of Adolf Hitler's vision for the future of Nazi Germany after the planned victory in World War II. It wa ...

. The statue weathered a marked amount of shrapnel damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, but has survived largely intact to the present day. In fact, the move probably saved the monument from total destruction, as the old garden in front of the Reichstag was obliterated in the war. File:Berlin - Bismarck-Nationaldenkmal4.jpg, Kneeling Atlas File:Siegfried, das Reichsschwert schmiedend 1.JPG, Siegfried forging the imperial sword File:Berlin - Bismarck-Nationaldenkmal5.jpg, Germania suppressing discord and rebellion File:Berlin - Bismarck-Nationaldenkmal3.jpg, Sibyl reading the book of history

External links

The Berlin Observer360° Panorama
Monuments to Otto von Bismarck Statues in Berlin Outdoor sculptures in Berlin Statues in Germany Ancient Greece in art and culture Sculptures of Norse mythology Sculptures of classical mythology Sculptures of men in Germany Sculptures of women in Germany Tiergarten (park) {{Germany-sculpture-stub

See also

External links