Kaiser Wilhelm Monument (Wuppertal)

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Equestrian statue with Kaiser Wilhelm I, Elberfeld
Brausenwerther Platz around 1895, with the statue in front of the city theater
Looking north, between 1900 and 1926. On the right the memorial, on the left the Döppersberg suspension railway station.
Brausenwerther Platz with the city theater, bathing establishment, Kaiserhof and Kaiser Wilhelm monument, postcard from around 1910.

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial on the shower Werther place ( 51 ° 15 '23 "N, 7 ° 9' 6" O ) on Döppersberg in Elberfeld (now a suburb of Wuppertal ) was a Kaiser Wilhelm memorial in the form of an equestrian statue to In honor of Kaiser Wilhelm I , created in 1893 by the sculptor Gustav Eberlein . The bronze statue was moved to a smaller size in Deweerth's garden in 1937 ( 51 ° 15 ′ 15 ″ N, 7 ° 7 ′ 59 ″ E ) and melted down around 1943 for use in the war.

description

The monument showed an equestrian statue of the emperor in a general pose on a granite plinth, on which Germania was leaning and holding symbols of war with sword and oak, but also symbols of peace in her hands with laurel and palm trees. The reverse of the work showed a bronze lion striding down the steps, holding trophies of victory under his paws. The two side surfaces were provided with bronze reliefs that showed the departure and return of the Elberfeld warriors. A small park surrounded the monument on Brausenwerther Platz. The place was limited in the north by the Wupper . To the south of this area was the rear of the Hotel Kaiserhof , to the east the Stadttheater am Brausenwerth , and in between in the southeast the Brausenwerth bathing establishment . A little further south was Elberfeld station , now Wuppertal main station .

history

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial in Deweerth'schen Garten, between 1937 and 1943.

A few days after the death of Kaiser Wilhelm I on March 9, 1888, the decision to erect a memorial to him matured in Elberfeld. With collections in the population, 100,000 marks had come together. Gustav Eberlein from Berlin was commissioned to execute the bronze statue, which was inaugurated in the presence of many citizens on October 18, 1893, commemorating the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig . In 1937, the Wuppertal city administration, which was dominated by the National Socialists , redesigned Brausenwerther Platz in terms of traffic. For this purpose, she had the equestrian statue removed from its base on March 25 for temporary accommodation in a building shed. Circles facing the monarchy protested against the measure; Several angry Wuppertal residents informed Wilhelm I's grandson, Prince August of Prussia in Berlin, who then intervened with Adolf Hitler . In December, the statue was re-erected in Deweerth's garden on a four and a half meter high base, but without Germania, the lions and the reliefs.

In 1942 or 1943, after it was melted down, the bronze memorial was used in German armory for important war purposes . The plinth created in 1937 in the Deweerth'schen Garten is now part of the memorial for the victims of National Socialism that has existed there since 1958 .

literature

  • Ruth Meyer-Kahrweg : Monuments, fountains and sculptures in Wuppertal (main volume) . Born, Wuppertal 1991, ISBN 3-87093-057-8 . P. 78.
  • Ruth Meyer-Kahrweg: Monuments, fountains and sculptures in Wuppertal (biographies of the participating artists) . Born, Wuppertal 1991, ISBN 3-87093-058-6 , p. 40.

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