Goethe Monument (Berlin)

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The Goethe Monument in Berlin

The Goethe monument in Berlin's Great Tiergarten is a work by the sculptor Fritz Schaper (1841–1919), a prominent representative of the Berlin School of Sculpture . The group of figures made of Carrara marble was inaugurated in 1880, temporarily replaced by a copy made of cast concrete towards the end of the 20th century to protect against harmful weather influences and put back in its original location 130 years after its inauguration.

History of origin

The Berlin Goethe Committee had already advertised the erection of a Goethe monument in 1860 , but initially met with little response. For example, a call for financial support for the project by the members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in January 1861 resulted in only the small amount of 26 Reichstalers . Nevertheless, in 1861 it was decided to erect monuments to the poets Goethe , Schiller and Lessing . After the Schiller monument on the Gendarmenmarkt was completed in 1868/71 , the Goethe monument followed in 1880 and the Lessing monument in the Tiergarten in 1890 .

After an official competition, fifty designs were presented to the public and appraised in May 1872. Fritz Schaper's design, which was still relatively unknown at the time, received great approval from the public. However, the memorial committee could not make a decision, but recommended the revision of the four best designs. In 1873 Schaper was commissioned, the execution took place in the years 1876 to 1880. The sculptor had initially modeled a young Goethe, in the final version he showed him at an advanced age of about 40 years. The unveiling of the monument was celebrated on June 2, 1880, and numerous important personalities from culture and politics were present.

When asked whether he liked anything at all, Theodor Fontane also mentioned the Goethe monument in Berlin's Tiergarten at the end of a poem: "... a walk through Laesterallee, parades, Schapersche Goethekopf and a backfisch with a Mozart braid. "

The monument

The memorial is on Ebertstrasse on the eastern edge of the zoo, between the Brandenburg Gate and Lennéstrasse, across from the memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe . It reaches a total height of six meters, the statue of the poet on a round base is 2.72 meters high. Three allegorical groups of figures are arranged on the stepped substructure : For lyrical poetry, a muse with a lyre and an eros ; for the dramatic art of poetry, a seated woman with a writing tool, next to her a genius with the downward-facing torch of death; a reading female figure for research.

During the Second World War , the memorial suffered some damage, but no serious destruction. It was restored for the first time in 1959/60 . In 1982, the original marble was moved to the lapidarium on the Landwehr Canal to protect it from aggressive weather conditions, and in 2009 the collection stored there was relocated to the Spandau Citadel . A copy of the Goethe monument, made by the sculptor and restorer Harald Haacke (1924–2004), replaced the original in 1987. More than 20 years later, this concrete copy was in a badly damaged condition due to air pollution, weather conditions and material defects. Therefore, on November 12, 2010, the much better preserved original was put up again. This was possible because of the significantly improved quality of the air in the zoo; it contains more fine dust and nitrogen oxides than before, but about 90% less sulfuric acid components, which were responsible for the particularly harmful acid rain and attacked marbles .

  • Allegory of Lyric Poetry

  • Partial view of the damaged copy, 2009

  • Allegory of Dramatic Poetry

  • Allegory of Science

  • Info board

Before the monument was returned to the zoo, it was examined in detail and restored. This included ultrasonic tests to determine the internal condition of the figures, which were assembled from 60 individual parts, and their thorough cleaning with hot steam. Missing parts were replaced on the basis of historical recordings, which allowed a "reliable reconstruction ". A number of bullet marks on the statues and plinths remained visible and are a reminder of the war damage. Finally, the whole ensemble was made more weather-resistant with a special treatment. The total cost was around 250,000 euros. The work was part of a program in which all 60 or so monuments in the zoo are to be thoroughly checked and, if necessary, restored or completely replaced.

Bronze copy in Seoul

For the headquarters of the Lotte Group in the park behind the 555 m high Lotte World Tower in Seoul , a detailed copy of the Goethe monument in bronze was made in 2016 . The Lotte Group was named after the main character “Lotte” (Charlotte) in the novel “ The Sorrows of Young Werther ” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe from 1774, which the company founder Shin Kyuk-ho devoured in 1941 at the age of 19 had loved dearly.

Since the condition of the marble monument in Berlin's Tiergarten did not allow for a direct cast, a 3D scan was first made with a mobile 3D scanner . This was printed out as a 3D print from quartz sand with a furan direct bond. Then scratches and defects were repaired with filler. From the repaired copy made of quartz sand, a silicone impression was taken as a negative, which was poured with beeswax after the silicone had hardened . This positive made of beeswax was wrapped in sand and plaster and filled with bronze using the lost wax technique. The bronze sculpture was then polished and patinated .

literature

  • Otto Brahm: Goethe in Berlin . Festschrift for the unveiling of the Berlin Goethe monument. Berlin 1880.
  • Adolph Schulze: The Goethe monument in the Thiergarten in Berlin . Berlin 1880.
  • Brigitte Schmitz: Poet monuments in Berlin. In: Literary Life in Berlin 1871–1933. Studies. Edited by P. Wruck, Berlin 1987, pp. 334-366.
  • Knut Brehm: The Goethe Monument in Berlin. In: Fritz Schaper. The rediscovery of the monument. Exhibition catalog. Goch 2000, pp. 38-53.

Web links

Commons : Goethe Memorial  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Goethe and the Prussian Academy of Sciences 1860
  2. ^ Theodor Fontane: Complete Works (vol. 6), p. 343. Munich 1964.
  3. ↑ http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/aktuell/pressebox/archiv_volltext.shtml?arch_1011/nachricht4120.html
  4. ↑ a b Article in the “Tagesspiegel” about the restored monument
  5. ↑ Newspaper text about the restoration of the monument
  6. ↑ Christiane Habermalz: Sculpture from 1880 - A replica will be Asia's first Goethe monument. Deutschlandradio Kultur, May 25, 2016, accessed on January 2, 2017 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 49.6 "  N , 13 ° 22 ′ 34.9"  E