The Kyffhäuser Monument
Friday, 6 April 2018 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union Category/Kategorie: General , Museums, Exhibitions , Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks
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© Burghof Kyffhäuser/cc-by-sa-3.0
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The Kyffhäuser Monument (German:
Kyffhäuserdenkmal ), also known as Barbarossa Monument (
Barbarossadenkmal ), is an
Emperor William monument within the
Kyffhäuser mountain range in
Thuringia . It was erected in 1890–96 at the site of medieval
Kyffhausen Castle near
Bad Frankenhausen . The Kyffhäuser Monument is the third-largest monument in Germany, after the
Monument to the Battle of the Nations (
Völkerschlachtdenkmal ) commemorating the 1813
Battle of Leipzig and the
Emperor William Monument at
Porta Westfalica , both of which also were designed by architect
Bruno Schmitz (1858–1916).
The monument, which totals 81 metres (266 ft) tall, is located in the eastern part of the Kyffhäuser range at an elevation of c. 420 m (1,380 ft) below the Kyffhäuserburgberg peak, 439.7 m (1,443 ft). The site belongs to Steinthaleben in the municipal area of Kyffhäuserland , about 6.5 km (4.0 mi) north of Bad Frankenhausen and southwest of Tilleda in the Goldene Aue plain.
Kaiser Barbarossa © Reinhard Kirchner/cc-by-sa-3.0
After the death of
William I (Wilhelm I.), first
German Emperor in 1888, numerous memorials were erected in his honour all over the
German Empire . The Kyffhäuser Monument was initially proposed by the 19th century
Deutscher Kriegerbund (
German War Veterans Federation ), which under the name
Kyffhäuserbund (
Kyffhäuser Federation ) took over its maintenance after 1900. Architect Bruno Schmitz drew up plans referring to the tradition of massive monuments like the Bavarian
Walhalla memorial, the
Hermannsdenkmal in the
Teutoburg Forest , or the
Niederwalddenkmal near
Rüdesheim . The monument was built atop the ruins of the medieval
Imperial castle of Kyffhausen, a German Baron. Stylistically, it recalls the castles and fortresses of the
Hohenstaufen era in Germany in the 12th and 13th centuries. In the beginning period of
Wilhelminism , it was intended to suggest that the
Prussia -dominated
German Empire founded in 1871 was the legitimate successor to the medieval
Holy Roman Empire . It also signifies the national theme of decline and rebirth.
The monument features a 6.5-metre-tall (21 ft)
sandstone figure of the Hohenstaufen emperor
Frederick Barbarossa (“The Red-Bearded”) by
Nikolaus Geiger (1849–1897). Referring to the
king in the mountain legend of Barbarossa, which held that the emperor was sleeping under the Kyffhäuser Mountain and someday would rise again when Germany needed his leadership, the sculpture appears to just have awakened. Above him stands an 11-metre-tall (36 ft) copper
equestrian statue of Emperor William I, designed by sculptor Emil Hundrieser (1846–1911) in a
Neo-baroque style. This composition expresses the monument’s theme: That William I brought to fruition the unification of the German nation that had been so long desired since Barbarossa’s time. Towering over the monument is a 57-metre (187 ft) tower topped by a huge imperial crown. A 247-step stairway leads to the top of the tower, offering a panoramic view over the Kyffhäuser range to the
Harz mountains in the north and down to the
Thuringian Forest in the south. An adjacent building features exhibits depicting medieval Kyffhausen Castle and the Barbarossa legend.
Read more on
Kyffhaeuser-Denkmal.de ,
Burghof Kyffhäuser-Denkmalwirtschaft seit 1892 ,
region-suedharz-kyffhaeuser.de – Kyffhäuser Monument and
Wikipedia Kyffhäuser Monument (
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