Bismarck Monument (Dresden)
The Bismarck monument in Dresden was the work of Robert Diez and is one of the city's no longer preserved monuments. It was built in 1903 from granite and bronze .
Idea and competition
The idea of creating a Bismarck monument in Dresden arose, as in numerous other large cities in the German Empire, on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck . In March 1896, the city announced a general competition with the entry deadline October 15. The goal was a statue on a stone pedestal .
The jury consisted of Robert Diez , Alfred Moritz Hauschild , the building advisors Hermann Klette and Richter, Edmund Bräter , Paul Wallot , Ferdinand von Miller and Fritz Schaper . A budget of 90,000 marks was available to erect the monument .
On November 30, 1896, the jury assessed a total of 62 designs and awarded the 2nd prize to Werner Stein's design, without awarding a 1st prize , as well as the design by Wilhelm Wandschneider , the joint design by the sculptor Oskar Rühm and the architect Hans Pätzel and the design by sculptor Carl Meisen (Berlin) each received one of three 3rd prizes. Three other designs were purchased, including one by Hugo Lederer .
However, an order for the construction of the monument was not placed, which was justified with the first prize that was not awarded (for a design that was ready for execution in the opinion of the jury). Instead, at the beginning of the following year, the winners Werner Stein and Wilhelm Wandschneider, as well as the Dresden sculptors Robert Diez and Johannes Schilling , were invited to a closer competition until January 1, 1898 for a fixed fee. The jury then asked Robert Diez to revise his design on a larger scale. After his submission, the order was given to him. The monument was built between 1899 and 1903. The bronze casting was done by the art and bell foundry C. Albert Bierling in Dresden.
Establishment and description
The city of Dresden had planned an area in the area of the Ringstrasse, near the corner of Seestrasse and Prager Strasse , as the place of construction . It was an area in the center of the old town . The inauguration took place on August 30, 1903. The memorial was described at the time as a representation with energetic movement.
The monument had a total height of about 3.50 meters. The larger than life bronze statue of Bismarck was placed in the middle of a granite plinth that could be accessed from all sides via four steps.
At two corners there were two steles made of the same red granite as in the base, each with an allegorical griffin figure made of bronze, consisting of the group fight and the group victory and peace (with putti).
The bronze statue stood on a Bismarck kept low granite pedestal, holding in her right hand a Kürassierhelm and in the other hand a broadsword . Behind his right leg was a coat of arms with the imperial eagle as a symbol of his role.
On the back of the base was an allegorical group made of bronze, consisting of a putti with a Hercules club on the shoulder and another putti, who, sitting on a lion skin, reaches for the oak branch. In the center of this group a roll of documents was visible. On it was the inscription "We Germans fear God, but nothing else in the world". This quote from Bismarck comes from his speech in the Reichstag on February 6, 1888.
The rear end is formed by a curved balustrade made of granite, which encloses a lowered platform and allows two side exits.
The Bismarck statue looked towards the New Town Hall .
Late fate and whereabouts after 1945
During the Second World War, individual bronze parts were removed in 1944 in order to melt them down for armaments production. The bombing did little damage to the statue. The Soviet military administration put the monument on the list of cultural property to be protected after the city was occupied. A new location was to be found in the course of post-war construction. In the night from 13 to 14 May 1946, the bronze statue of is FDJ - activists overthrown and been taken away. The city administration initiated this demolition without consulting the State Office for Monument Preservation .
The Bismarck sculpture has now been stored in the Johanneum and was melted down in 1947. The parts of the stair landing and other granite parts were smashed in 1949 (acquisition value 20,000 marks) in order to remove it. A memorial plaque that was still in existence was melted down together with other bronze sculptures from Dresden in 1951 in order to recover metal.
literature
- Deutsche Bauzeitung , Volume 30, 1896, No. 20 (from March 7, 1896), p. 132. (on the competition)
- Deutsche Bauzeitung , Volume 30, 1896, No. 21 (from March 11, 1896), p. 136. (to the competition, addendum)
- Deutsche Bauzeitung , Volume 30, 1896, No. 90 (from November 7, 1896), p. 568. (to the competition result)
- Otto Richter (Hrsg.): Dresden's development in the years 1903 to 1909. Dr. Güntz'sche Foundation, Dresden 1910.
- Ernst-Günter Knüppel: Robert Diez. Sculpture between Romanticism and Art Nouveau. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-86583-355-6 .
- Florian Schmitz: Bismarck and the Dresdeners. Configuration of a reminder. In: Frank Almai and Ulrich Fröschle (eds.): Literature in context. Art and media, religion and politics. Festschrift for Walter Schmitz. Thelem, Dresden 2014, pp. 368-403, ISBN 978-3-945363-15-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′ 49.2 ″ N , 13 ° 44 ′ 9.2 ″ E