Niederwalddenkmal
Encyclopedia
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
History
The monument was constructed to commemorate the foundation of the German EmpireGerman Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
after the end of Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
. The first stone was laid on September 16, 1871, by Wilhelm I. The sculptor was Johannes Schilling
Johannes Schilling
Johannes Schilling was a German sculptor. His pupils included Hans Hartmann-MacLean....
, and the architect was Karl Weisbach
Karl Weißbach
Karl Robert Weißbach was a German architect and university lecturer-Selected works:*1872-74 - Russian Orthodox Church, Dresden*1877-1883 - Niederwalddenkmal, with the sculptor Johannes Schilling...
. The total cost of the work is estimated at one million gold marks
German gold mark
The Goldmark was the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914.-History:Before unification, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16⅔ grams of pure silver...
. It was inaugurated on September 28, 1883. The 38 meter tall monument represents the union of all Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
.
The structure
The central figure is the 10.5 meter tall GermaniaGermania (personification)
Germania is the personification of the German Nation or the Germans as a whole, most commonly associated with the Romantic Era and the Revolutions of 1848, though the figure was later used by Imperial Germany. She is usually shown wielding the "Reichsschwert" . Additionally, she is sometimes shown...
figure. In the sculptured impression, Germania holds the recovered crown of the emperor in the right hand and in the left the imperial sword.
Beneath Germania is a large relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
that shows emperor Wilhelm I riding a horse with nobility, the army commanders and soldiers. The relief has the Wacht am Rhein
Die Wacht am Rhein
"Die Wacht am Rhein" is a German patriotic anthem. The song's origins are rooted in historical conflicts with France, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War....
(Watch on the Rhine) lyrics engraved.
On the left side of the monument is located the peace statue. The war statue is located on the right.
The inscription
The monument's main inscription is engraved in the pedestal where the Germania statue is located: "ZUM ANDENKEN AN DIE EINMUETHIGE SIEGREICHE ERHEBUNG DES DEUTSCHEN VOLKES UND AN DIE WIEDERAUFRICHTUNG DES DEUTSCHEN REICHES 1870-1871." ("In memory of the unanimous victorious uprising of the German People and of the reinstitution of the German Empire 1870-1871"). The original idea by sculptor Johannes Schilling of the victory of the united German People was later adulterated into a more hostile interpretation against the "archenemy" France.Location
The Niederwald is a broad hill on the right bank of the Rhine, between that river and the WisperWisper
The Wisper is a thirty kilometer long river in Hesse, Germany, right tributary of the Rhine. Its source is in the western Taunus, Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis district, near a small village named Wisper . It flows southwest through a densely forested valley with some medieval castle ruins surrounded by a...
, opposite Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
. The hill forms the southwestern apex of the Taunus
Taunus
The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
range. Its summit is clothed with dense forests of oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
and beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
. Its southern and western sides, which descend sharply to Rüdesheim am Rhein and Assmannshausen
Assmannshausen
Assmannshausen is, since the incorporation in 1977, a quarter of Rüdesheim am Rhein in the Rheingau, located on the Rhine in the state of Hesse, Germany. The village has a lithium spring, spa and a Kurhaus, and is famed for its red wine made from Pinot noir , which resembles red Burgundy wine...
on the Rhine, are covered with vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s, and produce some of the finest wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
s of the district. The monument is located at the edge of the forest, on the crest of the hill above Rüdesheim.
Tourism
Visitors can reach the Niederwalddenkmal by gondola liftGondola lift
A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...
, from Rüdesheim to Niederwald
Niederwald
Niederwald is the name of several places:* Niederwald, Texas, in Texas, United States* Niederwald, Switzerland, in the canton of Valais* Niederwald is the name of the hill in Germany where the Niederwalddenkmal is located...
, by the rack railway
Rack railway
A rack-and-pinion railway is a railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail...
or by trails on foot.