Siegesdenkmal

The Siegesdenkmal stands in Freiburg im Breisgau on Europaplatz, a short walk north of the old town. It was built to mark the German victory in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 and originally stood beside the Karlskaserne barracks. After the Second World War it was moved 100 metres west to make way for a new road. The monument honours the XIV Corps of the German army, most of whose soldiers came from Baden. The design was chosen from eighteen entries in a national competition judged by five leading artists. Karl Friedrich Moest of Karlsruhe won first place and oversaw the work. The bronze figures and granite blocks were made by craftsmen in Nürnberg and Freiburg. Gun barrels from the defeated French army were melted down and used for decoration. The total cost reached 85,000 gold marks when it was unveiled in 1876 in the presence of Emperor Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck. Visitors approach up broad granite steps to a square base surrounded by four warriors in different poses. At the centre a gilded figure of Victory stands on a hemisphere, holding a laurel wreath. Four bronze tablets on the pedestal carry inscriptions, and medallions above show the emblems of the German Reich. The Black Forest granite gives the monument a sombre weight, while the figures capture both triumph and sacrifice.