Earlier this week I told you about our brief stop in Koblenz. And I promised you that I would share more about the Monument to William the Great.
Remember I told you it was huge? Well from what I have found, it stands 37 meters or 121 feet tall. Yes, it is huge! And like our crew told us, if we missed it when we visited Deutsches Eck we really did need to go back to bed and get some sleep.
If you look closely at the lower left corner of this image you see the heads of two people looking out from the monument. See? It’s ginormous!
The monument was built in 1897 as a tribute to the first German Emperor, William I of Germany, by his grandson, William II. His real name was Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig and he was the first German Head of State. He was also the King of Prussia.
The monument’s 14 meter or 46 foot high equestrian statue on top is what is really larger than life.
The columns behind the statue and base are 10 meters (33 feet) tall.
And the monument is engraved with ‘The Empire will never be destroyed, for as long as you stand united and loyal to each other’ (“Nimmer wird das Reich zerstört, wenn Ihr einig seid and treu!“) and has come to be a symbol of unity for the German people. And another reason it was a fitting site for the Berlin Wall Monument that we visited.
The architect was Bruno Schmitz.
He was responsible for quite a few German monuments.
And this is not his most famous. If it’s not the most famous, it has to at least be the most impressive when it comes to size.
It was badly damaged during World War II, and has since been reconstructed. At one time it was going to be demolished, but I am glad that it wasn’t. It is a beautiful work of art.
Even from the back it is something beautiful to view.
The silhouette against the blue sky is impressive.
A tribute to a long gone leader. I wonder what he would say if he saw it now?
This is not a sponsored post. This is my experience from my trip with Viking River Cruises. Email me to find out how you can save $100 when you book your first cruise with Viking through their referral program.
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