Bismarck Monument (Hamburg)

Bismarck monument
Bismarck-Denkmal

View of the monument from the southwest in 2004
Coordinates 53°32′55″N 9°58′19″E / 53.54861°N 9.97194°E / 53.54861; 9.97194Coordinates: 53°32′55″N 9°58′19″E / 53.54861°N 9.97194°E / 53.54861; 9.97194
Location Hamburg, Germany
Designer Architect: Johann Emil Schaudt
Sculptor: Hugo Lederer
Material Granite
Height 35 m (115 ft)
Opening date 2 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 250 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.

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,[1] and construction finished in 1906.[2]

Architecture

Bismarck monument
Location of Bismarck Monument in Hamburg
Bismarck monument
Location of Bismarck Monument in Hamburg

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 base of the monument houses a complex painting showing the Black Sun image in Wewelsburg with a central piece incorporating a sunwheel and swastikas and the texts "Great questions will not be resolved by talk, but by iron and blood" (Ger: "Nicht durch Reden werden große Fragen entschieden, sondern durch Eisen und Blut").[2][3] The origin of this painting is unknown.

Designers created a large network of catacombs beneath the monument. During 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 they, and the entire monument interior, are no longer accessible for safety reasons. During the 1970s a soldier who served with the British army during the occupation in Germany discovered a tunnel beneath the Bismarck memorial while in Hamburg which led to a Nazi hideout. He contacted the Daily Mirror newspaper and they contacted the Burgermeister in Hamburg. After viewing the tunnel as the soldier had just described it, the tunnel was sealed.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Wiborg, Susanne (17 December 2008). "Der größte Bismarck der Welt" [The world's largest Bismarck] (in German). Die Zeit. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hirschbiegel, Thomas (20 July 2006). "Der Titan vom Kiez wird 100" [The titan of the Kiez is 100]. Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  3. ↑ "Braune Lichtmenschen. Anmerkungen zum Heidentum in rechtsextremen Szenen" [Light Brown People: Paganism in the extreme Right] (in German). Brandenburg State Office for Political Education. Archived from the original on January 13, 2007.

Literature

External links

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