page_title: National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument
section_title: History until removal
hierarchical_section_title: National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument / History until removal
caption_attribution_description: Löwenplastiken des ehemaligen Kaiser-Wilhelm-Nationaldenkmals geschaffen von den beiden Künstlern August Gaul (rechts) und August Krauß (links) im Tierpark Berlin
context_page_description: The National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument was a memorial structure in Berlin dedicated to Wilhelm I, first Emperor of a unified Germany. It stood in front of the Stadtschloss from 1897 through 1950, when both structures were demolished by the GDR government.
  The monument was an equestrian statue of the first German Emperor Wilhelm I, on the Spree Canal along the Eosander portal on the west side of the Berlin City Palace. The design of the memorial was directly influenced by Wilhelm I's grandson, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the neo-baroque style of the memorial is the main work of sculptor Reinhold Begas, who had also designed the Victory Boulevard and the Bismarck National Memorial.
  The planned Monument to Freedom and Unity is to be located on the base originally constructed for the monument.
context_section_description: During the November Revolution of 1918, the monument was damaged in parts. During the early days of the Weimar Republic the government decided to restore the monument instead of removing it. The monument came through The Second World War relatively undamaged. In the winter of 1949/50, the GDR's ruling party, the SED decided to demolish the monument to its base. The demolition was politically motivated, as was the case a short time later with the decision to demolish the City Palace. The base still exists today on the southwestern edge of the castle square and is a listed building. The base floor is partially decorated with mosaics that are now protected under a layer of asphalt from the elements.
  In the underground vaults of the pedestal, street artists are known to leave their works, which can be visited at irregular intervals at one's own risk on descending a steep ladder into a revision shaft.
  From the actual monument, the four lions survived and now are on display outside the lion house at the Berlin Zoo. Furthermore, one remaining eagle statue by August Gaul is now owned by the Mark Brandenburg Museum.
caption: Two remaining lions of the monument, placed at the Berlin Zoo.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot S3 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2007:04:11 09:50:53", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5108", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6605", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/640", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:04:11 09:50:53", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:04:11 09:50:53", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "149/16", "EXIF ApertureValue": "107/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "107/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "80", "EXIF FocalLength": "58/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2816", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2112", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "2816", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "2112", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2772", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "112640/9", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2112000/169", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}