Siegesallee

The Siegessäule and the figures were moved by the Nazi government to the Großer Stern in 1939 to allow for larger military parades[citation needed].

The remaining figures were repaired in the Spandau Citadel and some form part of the permanent exhibition Enthüllt – Berlin und seine Denkmäler which opened in April 2016.

Intended as a personal gift to the city, supposedly to make it the envy of the world, the statues were created by 27 sculptors under the direction of Reinhold Begas over a period of five years, starting in 1896.

Dedicated on 18 December 1901, they consisted firstly of 32 "main" statues, each about 2.75m tall (4 to 5m including their pedestals), of former Prussian royal figures of varying historical importance, in two rows of 16, evenly spaced along either side of the boulevard, while behind each one were two busts of associates or advisors mounted on a low semi-circular wall, making 96 sculptures in all.

Karl Scheffler wrote a devastating criticism in 1907, comparing the Siegesallee to an overly patriotic out-of-tune amateur brassband concerto.

[6] The statues remained in place until 1938, when they got in the way of the grand plan by Adolf Hitler to transform Berlin into the Welthauptstadt Germania, to be realised by Albert Speer.

The avenue was set to disappear under the new North-South Axis, the linchpin of the plan, and so on Speer's direction the entire construction was dismantled and rebuilt in another part of the Tiergarten, along a south-east to north-west running avenue called ″Großer Sternallee″ that led to the Großer Stern (literally ″Large Star″) itself, the main intersection of roads in the centre of the Tiergarten, one of the other roads being the Charlottenburger Chaussee.

[citation needed] The Victory Column was also moved, to the middle of the Großer Stern (and increased in height in the process), where it remains to this day.

In 1979 they were rediscovered and disinterred, and many of the survivors were relocated to a museum called the Lapidarium, at Hallesches Ufer, on the north bank of the Landwehrkanal, near the site of the former Anhalter Bahnhof.

The Siegesallee, from a 1902 postcard. In the foreground is the statue of Albert I of Brandenburg ("Albert the Bear") (1100-1170). This was the northernmost statue on the west side. Other statues can be seen stretching away into the distance.
Map of Siegesallee from 1902
The Siegesallee in late 1933, looking north to the original location of the Victory Column
Kaum genügend (just satisfactory, Schroeder) und auffallend vernünftig für ein solch Thema (strikingly reasonable for such a topic Wilhelm II.)
Statues in the Spandau Citadel , August 2009
The original route of the Siegesallee in December 2003