siegessaule victoire berlin

Victory Column

The Siegessäule or Victory Column is one of Berlin’s most famous landmarks, having once been the setting for the video recording of U2’s song “Stay, Farway so Close”.

The Victory Column was the scene of the Love Parade, an electronic music festival, when it took place in Berlin, and also the place where Barack Obama gave his speech when he visited the city, again as a candidate for President of the United States.

The Victory Column is located in the middle of Tiergarten Park, at a traffic circle called Grosser Stern (Big Star) – because this traffic circle gives access to five streets, just as a star has five points.

History

The victory column, designed by Heinrich Strack, was built to commemorate Prussia’s victory over Denmark in the Prussian-Danish War of 1864. Within a few years, Prussia won two more wars, this time against Austria in 1866 and against France in 1870/1871.

These latter victories were the inspiration for adding the statue of Victory, the Roman goddess of victory, to the top of the column, which was not included in the original plans. The bronze statue of Victoria was designed by Friedrich Drake. It is 8.3 meters high and weighs 35 tons.

The column was originally erected on the Königsplatz (today’s Republic Square) in front of the Reichstag building. As part of the Nazi plans to transform Berlin into the “Welthauptstadt Germania” (Germany’s world capital), the victory column was moved to its current location. At the same time, the column was raised by 7.5 meters to its current height of 66.89 meters.

Fortunately, the Victory Column was not damaged during World War II, but after the war the French, who were among the allies that defeated Germany, demanded its demolition. However, the Americans and the British, the other allies, rejected this suggestion.

The Victory Column has a 50.66 meter high observation platform. If you buy a ticket, you can climb to the observation platform via a relatively narrow, spiral staircase of 285 steps.

There are many steps, but the climb is worth it because from the top you have a beautiful panoramic view of the surroundings and you can see many of Berlin’s famous attractions.

Video

An underground tunnel leads to the center of the Grosser Stern, where the Victory Column is located. Four buildings that look like ancient temples indicate the tunnel entrance.

How to get to the column

The platform is open to visitors Monday to Friday from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30 am to 7 pm from April to October. From November to March, the platform is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday, and on weekends from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm.

Ticket price: €3.50

Address: Grosser Stern 1 – Tiergarten, 10785 Berlin
S-Bahn: Lines S5, S7 and S75, station Bellevue
U-Bahn: Lines U9, station Hansaplatz
Bus: Lines 100, 106 and 187, stop Grosser Stern.

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