Victory Column

The Victory Column, known in German as the Siegessäule, stands in Berlin's Tiergarten park, designed by the architect Heinrich Strack and completed in 1873 to commemorate Prussia's military victories in its wars against Denmark, Austria and France in the preceding decade. The monument originally stood in front of the Reichstag building closer to the city center, but it was relocated in 1938 and 1939 to its present site at the Grosser Stern intersection as part of Albert Speer's grand redesign of Berlin's ceremonial avenues under the Nazi government, a move that also allowed a fourth drum to be added to the column, further increasing its height. The column is topped by a gilded bronze statue personifying Victory, sculpted by Friedrich Drake, that Berliners have long nicknamed Goldelse. Visitors can climb an internal spiral staircase to a viewing platform near the statue's base, and the column has remained a prominent Berlin landmark and gathering point through the city's later political upheavals.