Großfürstenplatz

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The Großerfürstenplatz in the Großer Tiergarten

The Großfürstenplatz is a small, semicircular square in the Great Tiergarten in Berlin .

location

Memorial plaque on Großfürstenplatz
Triton Fountain by Joseph von Kopf (1888); behind it, the empty plinth of the sculpture group Four German Streams

The site is located on the south side of John Foster Dulles-Allee in the district Tiergarten of the Mitte district , near Bellevue Palace . The Spree runs across from the Großenfürstenplatz .

history

The square was laid out in 1776 at the instigation of Prince Ferdinand of Prussia , a brother of King Friedrich II. The new square was halfway between a dairy farm that had previously belonged to the architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff and in its place the prince would soon Bellevue Palace built, and the so-called tents . In the same year a folk festival was celebrated here on the occasion of the engagement of the heir to the Russian throne, Grand Duke Paul, to Sophie Dorothee von Württemberg . After this event, the square was named "Großfürstenplatz" in the official street directory of Berlin from 1832.

In 1839, the sculpture Hercules with lyre by the sculptor Georg Franz Ebenhecht from 1746 was installed here. She had previously stood on the square in front of the Brandenburg Gate , but was perceived as offensive due to the nudity of Hercules in the 19th century and was therefore moved to a less conspicuous place. On the occasion of the redesign of the Großfürstenplatz, the statue was moved again around 1880, in the vicinity of the Rousseau Island, which is also located in the zoo . A concrete cast of Hercules with a lyre , which was badly damaged in the Second World War, is today again on March 18th in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

In 1880 the long-neglected Großfürstenplatz was redesigned. The sculpture ensemble Four German Streams , created between 1860 and 1870, was repositioned in the semi-arch of the square. The allegorical representations, with a base about 4 meters high, came from the sculptors August Wittig ( The Vistula ), Rudolf Schweinitz ( The Oder and The Rhine ) and Alexander Calandrelli ( The Elbe ). In 1888, a triton fountain by the sculptor Joseph von Kopf was built in the middle of the Großfürstenplatz . In a sandstone basin 4 meters in diameter, the ancient Greek sea deity kneels on a rock plinth, holding up a large fish. The fountain fountain emerges from the fish's mouth. The fountain figure is a listed building .

Badly damaged in the Second World War, sandstone sculptures and fountains presented a neglected image for decades. The heavily weathered sculptures were missing heads and limbs, and the bases still show bullet holes and graffiti. The well, which was also badly damaged, was restored in 1987 by the sculptor Harald Haacke . The sculptures, which have since been dismantled down to the base, have been stored since then. When asked by the Berlin House of Representatives , Senate Building Director Hans Stimmann replied in July 2002 that a restoration of the sculptures could not be carried out for the time being because the city of Berlin lacks the money to renew the plinths and foundations. In the meantime (2015), however, the sculptures have been restored and put back in their original location.

Großfürstenplatz was moved into the Berlin street directory after 1947, but the name has been retained. The Großfürstenplatz should not be confused with the Kurfürstenplatz (also Zeltenplatz ) located a little to the east .

Web links

Commons : Großfürstenplatz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Folkwin Wendland: The Great Tiergarten in Berlin. Its history and development in five centuries . Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-7861-1631-8 , p. 54.
  2. ↑ Wendland: The Great Zoo . P. 54.
  3. ^ Four German currents in the district lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
  4. ^ Entry Triton Fountain in the district lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein;Entry in the Berlin State Monument List with further information .
  5. ↑ Four German streams and Triton fountain in the district lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
  6. ↑ Berlin House of Representatives, 15th electoral term: Small question No. 15/361 by Member Erik Schmidt (FDP) on: Will the Great Zoo soon be a great desert? ( Memento from October 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '1.4 "  N , 13 ° 21' 33.3"  E