Kaiser Wilhelm Monument (Venusberg)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kaiser Wilhelm monument on the Venusberg

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial (also: Memorial ) is located in a wooded area in the Venusberg district of Bonn . The monument, which is protected as an architectural monument, can be reached via the Hauweg and the Rosenburgweg . In Bonn, the monument is also known as the “Asparagus Monument” because of its unusual shape.

In addition to the Kaiser Wilhelm monument in the center of Bonn, the two massive Bismarck towers in Gronau and on the Wacholderhöhe, and the wooden Bismarck tower on the Venusberg (1894), which was demolished in 1912, the Venusberg Wilhelm monument is also an expression of patriotism typical of the time , who glorified the German Empire and the Prussian ruling house .

history

From 1888 onwards, a park for the city of Bonn was built on the wooded Venusberg, which is now overgrown again and is the oldest part of the Bonn city forest. In the earlier than Kaiserpark or Kaiser Wilhelm Park designated 49-hectare site Flanierwege, benches and huts were built. Work on the park was completed with the erection of the monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I. It was to be inaugurated in 1897 on the occasion of the emperor's 100th birthday.

The Bonn city architect Rudolf Schultze designed the monument as an expression of his national attitude. The inauguration took place on March 23, 1897 during a pompous ceremony. The Lord Mayor of Bonn, Wilhelm Spiritus , referred to the inscription ("THE MEMORIAL OF EMPEROR WILHELMS I DEDICATED THIS GROVE THE CITY OF BONN") on the stone:

"If you step into this grove, you will see at your feet the river that Kaiser Wilhelm protected against Frankish arrogance, the German Rhine, which is forever linked to the German Empire through Kaiser Wilhelm ..."

- Wolfgang Cilleßen : "Altars for the Fatherland"

The Cologne sculptor Johann Degen was responsible for the execution of the memorial . The object, designed as a natural monument, is made in the neo-Romanesque style in sandstone and granite . It contains an ornamental portrait of the monarch made of bronze and its design corresponds to the taste of the time. A special feature are the different heights of basalt stone columns that rise up behind the memorial stone as a composite pyramid. Their length is up to 8 meters.

literature

  • Josef Niesen , Bonn monuments and their builders, Edition Lempertz, Bonn 2013.

See also

Web links

Commons : Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal (Venusberg)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of monuments of the city of Bonn (as of March 15, 2019), p. 51, number A 130
  2. ^ Wolfgang Veit: Rhine, between Cologne and Mainz: Castle romance and lust for life. DuMont Reiseverlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-7701-9-2380 , p. 50
  3. ↑ On the trail of the Bismarck myth in Bonn , website of the Bonner Heimat- und Geschichtsverein
  4. ↑ Gabriele Zabel-Zottmann: Sculptures and objects in the public space of the federal capital Bonn. Installed from 1970 to 1991. With consideration of a selection of works previously and subsequently placed. Dissertation, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn 2012, p. 14 (text and footnote 9)
  5. ↑ Der Kaiserpark , June 19, 2007, Bonner General-Anzeiger
  6. ↑ a b c d e Josef Niesen: Rudolf Carl Julius Schultze (1854–1935), Bonn City Architect , April 17, 2014, Portal Rheinische Geschichte, Landschaftsverband Rheinland
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Cilleßen: "Altars for the Fatherland": The Lower Rhine as a national-patriotic monument landscape (= studies and sources on the history of Wesel , volume 25). Self-published by the City Archives, ISBN 978-3-92438-0-205 , p. 91

Coordinates: 50 ° 42 ′ 38.7 "  N , 7 ° 5 ′ 52"  E