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

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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