Berlin’s Siegessäule - Victory Column - is another of Berlin’s monuments that has reinvented itself through the ages - from symbol of Prussian military victory in the 19th century to that favourite tourist spot today.

The 67 m high symbol of victory originally stood in front of the Reichstag in the former Königsplatz and today’s Platz der Republik. It was relocated here, in the Tiergarten’s main roundabout by the Nazis in 1938. The Grosser Stern roundabout is a central intersection from which five avenues stretch out to different directions around the compass. According to plans by Albert Speer the architect and visionary of Berlin as the new capital of the German Reich – Germania – intended to enhance the East-West axis running through the Tiergarten.

Built by Philip Drake, the gilded shaft is painted with enemy canons and martial scenes in relief from. The 8.3 m tall statue on the top of the column represents both Victoria, the Goddess of Victory and Borussia the allegory and Latin name of Prussia. Her face based on the sculptor’s daughter and known, in Berliner lore, as the Goldelse (Golden Else).

© Pictures: www.visitBerlin.de