page_title: Wilhelmplatz
section_title: Prussian Military Statues
hierarchical_section_title: Wilhelmplatz / Wilhelmplatz in the 18th century / Prussian Military Statues
caption_attribution_description: English: Memorial for the prussian general Hans Joachim von Zieten (1699-1786). Originally a marble statue, made by Johann Gottfried Schadow and placed at the former Wilhelmplatz in Berlin in 1794. Replaced by a reproduction, made of bronze, by August Kiss in 1857. Re-erected in 2003. Deutsch: Denkmal des preußischen Generals Hans Joachim von Zieten (1699-1786). Ursprünglich eine Marmorstatue von Johann Gottfried Schadow, 1794 auf dem ehemaligen Wilhelmplatz in Berlin aufgestellt. Dort 1857 durch eine Bronzekopie von August Kiss ersetzt. 2003 neu errichtet.
context_page_description: Wilhelmplatz was a square in the Mitte district of Berlin, at the corner of Wilhelmstrasse and Voßstraße. The square also gave its name to a Berlin U-Bahn station which has since been renamed Mohrenstraße. A number of notable buildings were constructed around the square, including the old Reich Chancellery, the building of the Ministry of Finance and the Kaiserhof grand hotel built in 1875.
context_section_description: After the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, a plan was developed to erect statues of those generals who had fallen in battle. From this idea, originated the first four free-standing marble statues of General Field Marshal Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin (Sculptors: François Gaspard Adam and Sigisbert François Michel, 1769), General Field Marshal Hans Karl von Winterfeldt (Johann David Räntz and Johann Lorenz Wilhelm Räntz, 1777), General Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz (Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert, 1781) and General Field Marshal James Keith (Jean-Pierre Antoine Tassaert, 1786). They depicted the military in a rather conventional form. Schwerin and Winterfeldt posed in an antique manner with Roman clothing, while Seydlitz and Keith wore contemporary uniforms.
  In the years 1794 and 1828, 2 further statues were put into place, which had originally been determined for other places in Berlin.  The two pieces, done by notable Berlin sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow, depicted Hans Joachim von Zieten and Leopold I, the prince of Anhalt-Dessau, nicknamed "Alter Dessauer". The statue of Zieten was supposed to be erected on Donhöffplatz (also in Mitte, though no longer there today), while the memorial for the prince had already stood since 1800 on the southwest corner of the Lustgarten. Leopold I was then only moved when both areas were redesigned under the supervision of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Together, the six sculptures overlooked the square for more than a century.
  Based on advice from Christian Daniel Rauch regarding the vulnerability of the materials, the statues were replaced with bronze copies made by August Kiß in 1857. That is, all but Schwerin and Winterfeldt. Kiß designed these completely new and rid them of their antique appearances. The originals, after moving from place to place, eventually found a home in 1904 in the small dome hall at the Bode Museum.
  Though both the marble originals and the bronze versions survived World War II, they were hidden from view of the public for decades in different depots. It wasn't until a Prussian Renaissance in 1980s East Germany when a discussion was started about potentially redisplaying them. On the occasion of the 750th anniversary of Berlin in January 1987 the marble originals were once again transported to the Bode Museum, while the bronze versions were placed in front of the Altes Museum in the Lustgarten. The bronze statues have since been stored away again.
  After the turn of the millennium, at the urging of the Berlin Schadow Society, it was planned to once again place the statues at or near their historical locations. The bronze copies of the memorials depicting Zieten and Anhalt-Dessau were erected on U-Bahn Island on the lateral axis of the former Wilhelmplatze in 2003 and 2005, respectively. The other four bronze statues found a home in September 2009 on the neighboring Zietenplatz, after its construction, begun in 2005, was finished. As of 2011, the statues (as a complete set) are considered to be under protection of historic buildings and monuments.
caption: Bronze Statue of General Hans Joachim von Zieten
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