Bismarck Monument (Hamburg)

Last updated
Bismarck monument
Bismarck-Denkmal
Hamburg-Bismarck-Denkmal.jpg
View of the monument from the southwest in 2004
Bismarck Monument (Hamburg)
53°32′55″N9°58′19″E / 53.54861°N 9.97194°E / 53.54861; 9.97194
LocationHamburg, Germany
DesignerArchitect: Johann Emil Schaudt
Sculptor: Hugo Lederer
Material Granite
Height35 m (115 ft)
Opening date2 June 1906
Dedicated to Otto von Bismarck

The Bismarck Monument (German : Bismarck-Denkmal) in Hamburg is a memorial sculpture located in the St. Pauli quarter dedicated to Otto von Bismarck. It is one of 240 memorials to Bismarck worldwide and is the largest and probably best-known of these Bismarck towers. The monument stands near the jetties of Hamburg port on the Elbhöhe, today a local recreation area. The architect was Johann Emil Schaudt; the sculptor was Hugo Lederer.

Contents

History

The site of the monument was previously occupied by the Elbpavillon restaurant which was removed in 1901. Mayor Johann Georg Mönckeberg established a citizens' commission to erect the monument at the site.

The Bismarck Monument cost 500,000 Goldmarks to erect, [1] and it was completed in 1906. [2] The building of the monument was documented by the photographer Wilhelm Weimar, who worked for the Hamburg Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe.

Architecture

The monument is approximately 35 m (115 ft) high, weighs 600 t (590 long tons; 660 short tons), and is the world's largest Bismarck monument. [1] [2]

The designers created a large network of catacombs beneath the monument. In the years 1939 to 1940, they became an air-raid shelter, offering protection for up to 650 people. [2] The architect's intent for the catacombs remain unknown, however, as they, and the whole interior of the monument, are no longer accessible for safety reasons. In the 1970s, a soldier who had served in the British army during the occupation in Germany discovered a tunnel beneath the Bismarck memorial which led to a Nazi hideout while in Hamburg. He contacted the Daily Mirror newspaper which, in turn, contacted the Burgermeister in Hamburg. After viewing the tunnel that the soldier had described, authorities decided to seal it.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburg</span> City and state in Germany

Hamburg, officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, is the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and 6th-largest in the European Union with a population of over 1.9 million. The Hamburg Metropolitan Region has a population of over 5.1 million and is the eighth-largest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fehmarn</span> Town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Fehmarn is an island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is Germany's third-largest island, after Rügen and Usedom. Fehmarn is separated from the German peninsula of Wagria in Holstein by the Fehmarn Sound, and from the southern Danish island of Lolland by the Fehmarn Belt. It is connected to the Holsatian mainland by the Fehmarn Sound Bridge. The island belongs to the district of Ostholstein. The closest larger towns on the mainland are Heiligenhafen and Oldenburg in Holstein. Right opposite Fehmarn, on the tip of the Wagrian Peninsula, is Großenbrode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elbe Tunnel (1911)</span> Pedestrian and vehicle tunnel in Hamburg

Old Elbe Tunnel or St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel, which opened in 1911, is a pedestrian and vehicle tunnel in Hamburg. The 426 m long tunnel was a technical sensation; 24 m beneath the surface, two 6 m diameter tubes connect central Hamburg with the docks and shipyards on the south side of the river Elbe. This was a big improvement for tens of thousands of workers in one of the busiest harbors in the world.

<i>Bismarck Memorial</i> Sculpture in Berlin, Germany

The Bismarck Memorial is a prominent memorial statue in the Tiergarten in Berlin dedicated to Prince Otto von Bismarck, Minister President of the Kingdom of Prussia and the first Chancellor of the German Empire. It was sculpted by Reinhold Begas and unveiled in 1901.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugo Lederer</span> German sculptor (1871–1940)

Professor Hugo Lederer was an Austro-Hungarian-born German sculptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyffhäuser Monument</span> Late 19th century colossal monument in Germany

The Kyffhäuser Monument, also known as Barbarossa Monument, is an Emperor William monument in the Kyffhäuser mountain range in the German state of Thuringia. It was erected from 1890 to 1896 atop the ruins of the medieval Kyffhausen Castle near Bad Frankenhausen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landungsbrücken station</span> Railway station in Hamburg, Germany

Landungsbrücken is a railway station and transport hub, located in Hamburg's St. Pauli quarter at the Landungsbrücken. It is part of the City S-Bahn line and the Hamburg U-Bahn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg</span> Transport museum in Hamburg, Germany

The Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg is a private museum in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany. The museum houses Peter Tamm's collection of model ships, construction plans, uniforms, and maritime art, amounting to over 40,000 items and more than one million photographs. It opened in a former warehouse in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohlsdorf Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Hamburg, Germany

Ohlsdorf Cemetery in the Ohlsdorf quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany, is the biggest rural cemetery in the world and the fourth-largest cemetery in the world. Most of the people buried at the cemetery are civilians, but there is also a large number of victims of war from various nations. The cemetery notably includes the Old Hamburg Memorial Cemetery with the graves of many notable Hamburg citizens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bismarck monument</span>

From 1868 onwards, Bismarck monuments were erected in many parts of the German Empire in honour of the long-serving Prussian minister-president and first German Reichskanzler, Prince Otto von Bismarck. Today some of these monuments are on the soil of other countries including France, Poland and Russia as well as the former German colonies on other continents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emperor William monuments</span> Monuments build for German Emperor Wilhelm I

A large number of monuments were erected in Germany in honour of Emperor William I. As early as 1867 the Berlin sculptor, Friedrich Drake, had created the first equestrian statue, that portrayed William I as the King of Prussia. To date the Prussian Monument Institute has recorded:

<i>Goethe–Schiller Monument</i> Monument at the German National Theater in Weimar (erected in 1857)

The original Goethe–Schiller Monument is in Weimar, Germany. It incorporates Ernst Rietschel's 1857 bronze double statue of Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749–1832) and Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805), who are probably the two most revered figures in German literature. The monument has been described "as one of the most famous and most beloved monuments in all of Germany" and as the beginning of a "cult of the monument". Dozens of monuments to Goethe and to Schiller were built subsequently in Europe and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars</span> Monument in Berlin

The Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars is a war memorial in Berlin, Germany, dedicated in 1821. Built by the Prussian king during the sectionalism before the Unification of Germany it is the principal German monument to the Prussian soldiers and other citizens who died in or else dedicated their health and wealth for the Liberation Wars (Befreiungskriege) fought at the end of the Wars of the Sixth and in that of the Seventh Coalition against France in the course of the Napoleonic Wars. Frederick William III of Prussia initiated its construction and commissioned the Prussian Karl Friedrich Schinkel who made it an important piece of art in cast iron, his last piece of Romantic Neo-Gothic architecture and an expression of the post-Napoleonic poverty and material sobriety in the liberated countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bismarck Tower (Hanover)</span> Monument in Hanover

The Bismarck Tower in Hanover, Germany was a tower erected as a monument to the first Chancellor of the united German nation Otto von Bismarck for patriotic and nationalistic purposes, which then became a hub for national socialist events in the city until its dismantlement in 1935 as part of the building of the Maschsee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Meisler</span> Israeli architect and sculptor

Frank Meisler was an Israeli architect and sculptor. Meisler was born in the Free City of Danzig and grew up in England, before moving to Israel in 1956. In 1953 he married Batya (Phillis) Hochman with whom he had 2 daughters: Michal Meisler Yehuda and Marit Meisler. He died in Jaffa in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emperor William Monument (Porta Westfalica)</span> Colossal monument near Porta Westfalica in North Rhine-Westphalian, Germany

The Emperor William Monument, near the town of Porta Westfalica in the North Rhine-Westphalian county of Minden-Lübbecke, is a colossal monument above the Weser gorge of Porta Westfalica, the "Gateway to Westphalia". It was erected to honour the first German Emperor, William I (1797–1888), by the then Prussian Province of Westphalia between 1892 and 1896 and emerged against the background of a rising German national identity. The monument, which is around 88 metres (289 ft) high, is classified as one of Germany's national monuments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bismarck monument (Bremen)</span> Monument in Bremen, Germany

The Bismarck monument outside the cathedral in Bremen is a bronze figure of the former Chancellor, riding a horse. It was created in 1910, twelve years after Bismarck's death. The commission was entrusted to Adolf von Hildebrand in 1904. Since 1973 the monument has enjoyed protected status.

Johann Wilhelm Weimar, known as Wilhelm Weimar, was a German museum scientist, draftsman, typographer and photographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kontorhaus District</span> Heritage site in Hamburg, Germany

The Kontorhaus District is the southeastern part of Altstadt, Hamburg, between Steinstraße, Meßberg, Klosterwall and Brandstwiete. The streetscape is characterised by large office buildings in the style of Brick Expressionism of the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tag des offenen Denkmals</span> Historical preservation event in Germany

The Tag des offenen Denkmals is an annual event all over Germany. The day of action has been coordinated by the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz since 1993. Historic monuments are open to the public free of charge. It takes place on the second Sunday in September and attracts several million visitors each year. The largest cultural event in Germany is the contribution of the country to the European Heritage Days.

References

  1. 1 2 Wiborg, Susanne (17 December 2008). "Der größte Bismarck der Welt" [The world's largest Bismarck]. Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  2. 1 2 3 Hirschbiegel, Thomas (20 July 2006). "Der Titan vom Kiez wird 100" [The titan of the Kiez is 100]. Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). Archived from the original on 19 December 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2017.

Literature