Prince Albrecht of Prussia Monument (Berlin)

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The monument in the line of sight to Charlottenburg Palace

The Prince Albrecht of Prussia Monument is a statue in honor of Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1809–1872). It shows the brother of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV and the Emperor Wilhelm I in 1870 as a participant in the Franco-German War . The figure of the sculptors Eugen Boermel and Conrad Freyberg from 1901 stands at the north end of Schloßstraße in Berlin- Charlottenburg .

Position and orientation of the still image

The memorial is located on the central promenade of Schloßstraße on the corner of Spandauer Damm . The line of sight of the Schloßstraße is aligned to the opposite Charlottenburg Palace . The center of the visual axis points to the domed structure of the palace and the large equestrian statue of the Great Elector of Schlueter in the palace courtyard. The central promenade of the 72 meter wide avenue popular with tourists has a spacious walkway and is lined with linden trees. On the other side of the road are the former officers' barracks of the Gardes du Corps von Stüler, built in the late classical style, with the Scharf-Gerstenberg collection and the Berggruen Museum, as well as the neighboring Bröhan Museum . The 900 meter long avenue leads south to Sophie-Charlotte-Platz , to the west of the street is the Klausenerplatz-Kiez , to the east is the Schustehruspark .

The sculptors

The memorial in front of the Bröhan Museum and the Berggruen Museum

It is not known what shares the two artists Eugen Boermel and Conrad Freyberg had in the monument. It is very likely that Boermel was responsible for the statue, while Freyberg, who was more talented as a painter, was likely to have mainly made the base reliefs. This is supported by the fact that Freyberg depicted himself as a regimental comrade Prince Albrecht on the eastern base relief and one relief bears his name. In addition, such soldier and horse paintings with figurative descriptions of quiet moments from the Franco-German War were among Freyberg's specialties. The Bega - master student Boermel other hand, had just unveiled the 1900 Memorial Group 14 for the Berlin Victory Boulevard to the central statue of Emperor Sigismund made a name. This work marked his breakthrough from small sculptor to monumental sculptor and placed him in the group of preferred sculptors for the state commissions of Kaiser Wilhelm II , the client and financier of Siegesallee. The Prince Albrecht von Prussia monument was his first major order after Siegesallee and his second monument at all. The art critics classify his larger works as rather unsuccessful and hold him against the fact that he got stuck in the external appearance of the gas school .

The monument

The monument was ceremoniously unveiled on October 14, 1901 in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The statue of Albrecht stands on a pedestal , which, according to the inscription, comes from the Berlin granite factory Kessel & Röhl . The monument area is bordered by an ornamental grille. Under the catalog no. 35 showed the Berlin exhibition Ethos & Pathos - Die Berliner Bildhauerschule 1786–1914 in 1990 a reduced bronze version of the statue (height 74.3 cm). It was cast at Gladenbeck in Berlin and is privately owned.

The still image

Dedication relief (southern relief)
Relief with the scene from the battle of Loigny and Poupry
Western relief pursuit of the enemy over Frenois on Sedan

The sculptors saw the prince as the general of the cavalry , as he was in command of the 4th Cavalry Division, which was assigned to the 3rd Army, and took part in several battles during the war against France . The listed bronze statue faces the castle and shows the cavalry general with a fur-trimmed general's coat that is wide open and falls to his knees. The prince wears an overcoat under his coat . The head, turned to the right and slightly raised, is covered by a peaked cap , the gaze goes into the distance. In the right hand the figure is holding a riding whip, in the left hand gloves. The legs are covered with high gauntlets , the right leg is slightly forward. A long saber is added as an attribute. As the scenes from the base reliefs suggest, the depiction of the later Colonel General Albrecht relates to 1870.

Base reliefs

Four bronze panels are embedded in the base. Two of these show battle scenes from the Franco-German War of 1870/71.

  • The plaque on the north side facing the castle bears the three-line inscription 1809–1872 / Albrecht / Prince of Prussia under a coat of arms .
  • The opposite bronze plaque on the south side is designed with a sloping round arch, in which there is a crown at the top and an eagle at the bottom, which sits with outspread wings on lying troop flags . The five-part inscription is embedded between the crown and the eagle: Dedicated to the princely rider leader / and knightly prince, in / subservience and loyal / adoration by his / her comrades in 1901 .
  • The eastern relief of Prince Albrecht among the scattered armed French on the evening of Orgères shows a scene from the battle of Loigny and Poupry on December 2, 1870 . In the right half of the picture there are German soldiers, in the left half French soldiers who are all sitting or standing in front of a fireplace. The French soldiers wear epaulettes - in the French army the men also wore epaulettes, not only the officers, but only made of wool. A Frenchman gesticulates to Prince Albrecht (with the same physiognomy and equipment as drawn on the statue), who is sitting on a chair opposite with his saber with a relaxed, slightly smiling expression. Next to him a soldier bends down to the prince, also talking to him and pointing forward with an outstretched arm. Behind Albrecht stand in their uniforms the painter Freyberg, who perpetuates himself here, and, with thoughtful expressions, Major Hagen and Major von Reclam. The names of the Germans are engraved in the relief border as follows: Prince Albrecht of Prussia, painter Conrad Freyberg, Major Hagen , Major v. Reclam . The scene is inscribed on the lower right: ORGÉRES - LOIGNY, DECB 2, 1870 .
  • The western relief on the opposite side of the chase of the enemy over Frenois on Sedan shows a cavalry command from August 31, 1870 with Prince Albrecht at the head in or near Frénois (engraving: Frenois August 31, 1870 ). From left to right the picture shows the following people or the following names are engraved in the frame of the relief: Prince Albrecht of Prussia Hereditary Prince ● Bernh. v. Sachs. Meiningen ● Lieutenant Strahl ● Major von Gra (?) Deki ● Major v. Verses ● Chamberd. Ferdinand ● Colonel Wright . As Colonel, Wright was in command of the Rhenish Dragoon Regiment No. 5 . Bernhard von Sachsen-Meiningen took part in the war as an orderly officer of the 6th Cavalry Division. A sea of ​​flags in the right background of the picture indicates the main force of the cavalry immediately following. The horses gallop over torn fences, canteens, rucksacks, rifles and soldiers' hats that are scattered on the ground. On that day of the Battle of Sedan , King Wilhelm of Prussia and his staff watched the battle from a hill near Frénois. Around 7 o'clock in the evening, the adjutant general of Napoleon III rode . Count Reille on the heights of Frénois and handed over the French offer of surrender to the king.

literature

Web links

Commons : Prinz-Albrecht-von-Prußen-Denkmal  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Prince Albrecht of Prussia, bronze statue. In: Lexicon: Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf from A to Z. ( berlin.de ).
  2. ↑ Uta Lehnert: The Kaiser and the Siegesallee…. P. 361.
  3. ^ Paul Kühn: Börmel, Eugen . In: Ulrich Thieme , Felix Becker (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. tape 4 : Bida – Brevoort . Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1910, p. 204–205 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
  4. ^ Ethos & Pathos … Volume Contributions to the Exhibition . ... p. 420.
  5. ↑ Ethos & Pathos … exhibition catalog. ... p. 50.
  6. ↑ a b Ethos & Pathos … exhibition catalog. ... p. 51.
  7. ↑ a b Grieben's travel guide for Berlin and the surrounding area. Verlag Albert Goldschmidt, Berlin 1909, p. 149.

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 ′ 9 ″  N , 13 ° 17 ′ 45 ″  E