Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal

The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal stands in Düsseldorf’s city centre on Martin-Luther-Platz, between the Johanneskirche and the justice ministry. It is a bronze equestrian statue of Wilhelm I in full generals’ uniform, created by Karl Janssen and unveiled in 1896. The monument belongs to the neobarock style and was moved to its present position in 1988. The statue honours Wilhelm I as founder of the German Reich and as Prussia’s king. Flanking it are the Bismarck and Moltke monuments, recalling the emperor’s closest advisers. A bronze eagle surmounts the fallen flags of the Second Reich on one side, while the opposite face bears the inscription ‘To the founder of the German Reich, grateful Düsseldorf.’ Two bronze reliefs depict Prussia’s struggles and the 1871 imperial coronation. Visitors find the bronze figures set on a granite pedestal richly decorated with cartouches and emblems. One relief shows the fall of the Holy Roman Empire and the Napoleonic wars, the other the goddess Borussia receiving the crown of statehood. The square’s axis points to the Johanneskirche’s main portal, linking the monument to the Protestant heritage of the region.