Berlin Victory Column

The base consists of polished red Swedish granite, measuring 18.8 meters square and 7.2 meters high. The base contains four bronze reliefs depicting scenes from the three victories. Measuring 12 meters wide and 2 meters high, they were designed by Moritz Schulz, Karl Keil, Alexander Calandrelli, and Albert Wolff. Upon the base is a round hall with 16 granite columns measuring 4.7 meters high. Along the hall's circumference is a glass mosaic designed by Anton von Werner. Four sandstone columns rise above this hall, the first three containing 20 gilded gun barrels each, 12 pounders from the Danish victory, 8 pounders from the Austrian victory, and 4 pounders from the French victory. On top of the fourth sandstone column resides the 8.52 meter tall gilded bronze victory.

The relief decoration was removed in 1945. It was restored for the 750th anniversary of Berlin in 1987 by the French president at that time, François Mitterrand.{{rp|114–115}}

The Victory Column originally stood in Königsplatz (now Platz der Republik). In 1938/1939, as part of the preparation of the monumental plans to redesign Berlin into Welthauptstadt Germania, the Nazis relocated the column to its present site at the Großer Stern (Great Star). At the same time, the column was augmented by another 6.5 metres, giving it its present height of 66.89 metres. The monument survived World War II without much damage. Surrounded by a street circle, the column is also accessible to pedestrians through four tunnels, according to plans by Albert Speer. A spiral staircase leads to a viewing platform under the statue.{{rp|99–107}}

During the Battle of Berlin of 1945, Soviet troops nicknamed the column "the Tall Woman".{{citation |last=Beevor |first=A |year=2003 |title=Berlin: The Downfall 1945 |publisher=Penguin Books |page=395}} Polish Army troops, fighting alongside their Soviet allies, hoisted the Polish flag on the column on 2 May 1945 at the end of the Battle in Berlin. This is celebrated yearly as Polish National Flag Day.

During the Berlin Victory Parade of 1945, the French tricolour was raised atop the column on the statue by French troops.ECPAD - Troupes françaises défilant à Berlin

It served as the location for Barack Obama's speech in Berlin as a US presidential candidate during his visit to Germany on 24 July 2008.{{Cite news|last=Whitesides|first=John|date=2008-07-25|title=Obama's foreign trip: Mission accomplished|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-politics-trip-idUSN2549412020080725}}{{citation |last=Borcholte |first=Andreas |title=Sieg der Säule| newspaper=Spiegel |date=20 July 2008}}

In Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire (1987), the column is one of many high places in the city where angels sit and look down.{{citation |url=http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2008/0718/seite1/0072/index.html |title=Nachrichten |publisher=BerlinOnline.de |year=2012 |access-date=26 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815081858/http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2008/0718/seite1/0072/index.html |archive-date=15 August 2009 |url-status=dead }}

The golden statue atop the column, cast in 1873 by the Aktien-Gesellschaft Gladenbeck foundry in Berlin,{{cite web|title=Biography: Hermann Gladenbeck (1827-1918)|url=http://toboganantiques.com/en/objets/o-gladenbeck-the-five-senses/|website=toboganantiques.com|access-date=18 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618100836/http://toboganantiques.com/en/objets/o-gladenbeck-the-five-senses/|archive-date=18 June 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Oscar Gladenbeck (1850-1921)|url=http://issuu.com/tobogan.antiques/docs/furniture/262|website=ISSUU.com|date=6 April 2013 |access-date=18 June 2015}} was featured in the music video to U2's 1993 "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)", an homage to Wings of Desire.

During the years of the techno Love Parade, the column was a meeting point where large numbers of people danced together.{{citation |url=http://www.berlin-life.com/berlin/love-parade |title=Berlin Life: 'The Death of Dance?' A history of the Berlin Love Parade |publisher=Berlin-Life.com |year=2007 |access-date=21 July 2020 }}

The Berlin queer monthly magazine Siegessäule, founded 1984 as a gay publication,{{Cite news|url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/schwul-lesbisches-magazin-in-berlin-die-siegessaeule-wird-30/10983408.html|title = Die "Siegessäule" wird 30| newspaper=Der Tagesspiegel Online | date=15 November 2014 }}TBS-Monatsinfo (Treff Berliner Schwulengruppen) (10 February 1984). "Gemeinsames". Record of TBS: Top 12 – via Archiv Gay Museum Berlin. was named after the monument. The Berlin Pride (CSD parade) usually includes the column on its route for the symbolism.{{Cite web|url=https://csd-berlin.de/demo-route/|title=Demo | Route 2019}}

The monument is one of the many landmarks visited in the "Berlin Byways" course in Mario Kart Tour (since 2021), and later Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (since 2022).{{Citation|title=Mario Kart Tour - Berlin Byways

| date=9 February 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jBHByzUbvU?t=11|language=en}}

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Category:1873 sculptures

Category:Buildings and structures in Mitte

Category:Monumental columns in Germany

Category:Monuments and memorials in Berlin

Category:Terminating vistas in Germany

Category:Victory monuments

Category:Tiergarten (park)

Category:Sculptures of Victoria (mythology)

Category:1873 establishments in Germany