Germania (personification)

For other uses, see Germania (disambiguation).

Painting by Philipp Veit, 1848. This image once covered the old organ inside the Paulskirche, above where the Frankfurt Parliament assembled from 1848 to 1849.

Germania is the personification of the German nation or the Germans as a whole, most commonly associated with the Romantic Era and the Revolutions of 1848, though the figure was later used by Imperial Germany.

Description

Germania is usually depicted as a robust woman with long, flowing, reddish-blonde hair and wearing armour. She often wields the "Reichsschwert" (imperial sword), and possesses a mediaeval-style shield that sometimes bears the image of a black eagle on a gold field. Additionally, she is sometimes shown as carrying or wearing the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire.

In post-1918 images, the banner she holds is the black-red-gold flag of modern Germany, but in depictions from 1871 to 1918 it is the black-white-red flag of the German Empire.

Meanings of some symbols

Attribute	Significance
Broken chains	Being freed
Breastplate with eagle	Symbol of the German empire - strength
Crown of oak leaves	Heroism
Sword	Symbol of power, readiness to fight
Chastetree branch around the sword	Noli tangere (touch-me-not), warning/protection
Black, red and gold tricolour	Flag of the liberal-nationalists in 1848; banned by dukes of the German states
Rays of the rising sun	Beginning of a new era

Gallery

Italia and Germania by Johann Friedrich Overbeck, 1828
Fresco by Philipp Veit, 1834–36. She is holding a shield with the German Confederation's arms. The smaller shields are the arms of the seven original Electors of the Holy Roman Empire.
Germania Awakening by Christian Köhler, 1849
Germania at the Watch on the Rhine by Hermann Wislicenus, 1873
Statue by Johannes Schilling, 1877-83, part of the Niederwalddenkmal near Rüdesheim am Rhein
Statue from Bismarck Memorial in Berlin, 1901
Germany 1914, by Friedrich August von Kaulbach

References

Lionel Gossman. "Making of a Romantic Icon: The Religious Context of Friedrich Overbeck’s 'Italia und Germania'." American Philosophical Society, 2007. ISBN 0-87169-975-3.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Germania.

Germania Briefmarken (German)

National personifications

Argentina Effigies of Argentina Armenia Mother Armenia Australia Boxing kangaroo Little Boy from Manly Bangladesh Mother Bengal Belgium Leo Belgicus Brazil Efígie da República Cambodia Preah Thong and Neang Neak Canada Johnny Canuck China Yanhuang Czech Republic Čechie Czech Vašek Švejk Denmark Holger Danske Finland Finnish Maiden France Marianne Georgia Kartvlis Deda Germany Deutscher Michel Germania Greece Athena "Greece" of Delacroix Iceland Lady of the Mountain India Bharat Mata Indonesia Ibu Pertiwi Ireland Ériu Hibernia Kathleen Ni Houlihan Israel Srulik Italy Italia turrita Japan Amaterasu Kenya Wanjiku Korea Dangun Ungnyeo Malta Melita Netherlands Dutch Maiden New Zealand Zealandia Norway Ola Nordmann Philippines Juan dela Cruz Maria Clara Poland Polonia Portugal Efígie da República Zé Povinho Russia Mother Russia Serbia Mother Serbia Kosovo Maiden Spain Hispania Sweden Mother Svea Switzerland Helvetia Ukraine Cossack Mamay United Kingdom Britannia John Bull Dame Wales United States Brother Jonathan Columbia Lady Liberty Uncle Sam Billy Yank Northern states Johnny Reb Southern states

Other symbols of Liberty

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