Statues and Monuments (1 Viewer)

[Obee]

Last month during my holiday in Europe, we visited The Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal) is a monument in Leipzig, Germany, to the 1813 Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations.

The structure is 91 metres (299 ft) tall. It contains over 500 steps to a viewing platform at the top, from which there are spectacular views across the city and environs.
Between 16–19 October 1813, the Battle of the Nations was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon aided by Polish and Italian troops as well as German-speakers from the Confederation of the Rhine. Napoleon's army was defeated and compelled to return to France while the Allies invaded France early the next year. Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to Elba in May 1814.

MOST impressive.....


Pond is being re-lined hence the soil and safety barriers


near the top


near the base (Note the German Cross on the marble floor)


Inside


HUGE

More details here: http://english.leipzig.de/leisure-c...ctions/monument-to-the-battle-of-the-nations/

John

 

[johnnybach]

Here is an article from The Daily Mail - which shows a rather unusual memorial figure of a war weary British Tommy, reflecting upon the horrors of war.

Enjoy - jb

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-peace-declared-installed-mark-centenary.html

 

[Obee]

Here is an article from The Daily Mail - which shows a rather unusual memorial figure of a war weary British Tommy, reflecting upon the horrors of war.

Enjoy - jb

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-peace-declared-installed-mark-centenary.html

JB,

in my previous trip 'Back to Blighty' in 2014 we stopped off at Seaham to see this particular monument after being told about it by our relatives.

Most impressive, depicting the futility of war .......



John

 

[Grognard]

Not a lot of people know that but there a statue of Napoleon at the top of the Place Vendôme column in Paris. I was there last week as a matter of fact...:wink2: The bronze of the column comes from the cannons taken at Austerlitz by Napoleon's army from the allied forces..

There's his tomb:

Does the statue work as a memorial?

-Moe

Just found this thread and immediately had the urge to post a picture from a German perspective. Cannot come up with a good military one for WWII. Cannot come up with a good one for WWI either.

Ok. Let's do France. Nothing. Cannot come up with a good Napoleon memorial in Paris either. Can someone help?

I guess I will just have to enjoy what others are posting.

 

[Obee]

Not a lot of people know that but there a statue of Napoleon at the top of the Place Vendôme column in Paris. I was there last week as a matter of fact...:wink2: The bronze of the column comes from the cannons taken at Austerlitz by Napoleon's army from the allied forces..

Like you, I visited the Place Vendôme column in Paris too this month !!!

Check out some of the details:



Another statue of Napoleon is looking down into the courtyard at Les Invalides



I hope you enjoyed your trip there, like I did,

John

 

[Obee]

Here are some of the monuments and statues I saw in berlin last month on my European Adventure

In Mohrenstraße - Wilhelmplatz there are 6 of Frederick the great's generals immortalised in bronze.


Hans-Joachim von Zieten


Leopold von Dessau


Hans Carl von Winterfeldt


Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin


More to follow ......

Jakob von Keith

 

[Obee]

Part 2 ......


Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz


Then there is Quadriga atop the Brandenburg Gate

In the middle of Unter den Linden there is Frederick the Great



and he is buried in a garden at Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam in a very non-descript grave, where people come to pay homage at his grave by placing a potato on the top!!!

more ......

 

[Obee]

Finally in Tiergarten, Berlin there is the Russian WW2 memorial,

erected by the Soviet Union to commemorate its war dead, particularly the 80,000 soldiers of the Soviet Armed Forces who died during the Battle of Berlin in April and May 1945.


The memorial is still a site of active commemoration. On the anniversary of VE Day, (8 May), we witnessed a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial.


There are 2 x T34 tanks and 2 x Field Guns on the memorial site.

John

 

[Poppo]

In Italy we have plenty of statues about the old kings of Italy. Italy is now a republic. The last king of Italy,Vittorio Emanuele III escaped like a coward during ww2, and the monarchy statues represent nothing for anyone...Really wierd they are not replaced by something with a meaning.

In the USA, there is a wierd war against the statues....On one hand, they hide or take away statues of the confederate heros: honest and integer men who were guilty only for fighting on the losing side....Same story for the Columbus statues, broken by other " talibans" because he would be guilty for bringing the white man in America, and this caused the genocide of the indians. In this case, they should also destroy all the Us presidents, politicians, generals statues because all of them were involved in the indians genocide....{sm2}

 

[Poppo]

Finally in Tiergarten, Berlin there is the Russian WW2 memorial,

erected by the Soviet Union to commemorate its war dead, particularly the 80,000 soldiers of the Soviet Armed Forces who died during the Battle of Berlin in April and May 1945.

View attachment 214548
The memorial is still a site of active commemoration. On the anniversary of VE Day, (8 May), we witnessed a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial.

View attachment 214549 View attachment 214550
There are 2 x T34 tanks and 2 x Field Guns on the memorial site.

John

My friend..If you like the soviet propaganda monuments, I hope you haven' t missed the huge " Sovietisches Erhenmal" in Treptow park, Berlin subburbs.

 

[jazzeum]

Thomas Paine, Morristown, NJ. Unfortunately, it's not well maintained and could use a good cleaning.

 

[Poppo]

Speaking of soviet monuments, here below the photo I took 10 days ago in Varna, Bulgaria. And another monument near the cathedral...

 

[Old Bill]

Well, not really a Statue or Monument as such - but whilst out for a walk on a very recent family holiday in Norfolk we came across this unexpected gem in the little village of Honing:

 

[Obee]

Roy,

in Australia many towns have old captured weapons or retired guns as the centrepiece of the local war memorials,

these are some similar trench mortars that the Diggers brought back home following WW1 and set up in Western Australia:


170mm Trench Mortar Minenwerfer - South Perth


170mm Trench Mortar Minenwerfer - Dardenup


7.58cm Minenwerfer - Narrogin

John

 

[Old Bill]

Hi John,

Thanks for the pics. It's heartening to see they are still on display in towns in Australia.

It's quite rare (in my experience) to see things like this still on display on a local level in England. There used to be one in Mulberry Green, Old Harlow a few miles from where I live but it disappeared in the 1960's (ish.)

Pic taken in 1925:

 

[Old Bill]

A couple of my favourites - The Royal Tank Regiment Memorial, Whitehall Court, London and The Desert Rat Memorial, Thetford Forest:

 

[Terp152]

Had some time before a flight to return home from a business trip to Norfolk, VA and visited Yorktown. This is the victory monument dedicated 100 yrs after the battle in 1881. Chris

 

[semperrandyfi]

Had some time before a flight to return home from a business trip to Norfolk, VA and visited Yorktown. This is the victory monument dedicated 100 yrs after the battle in 1881. Chris

View attachment 228358

Whoa..wait just one second here.The "Caped Crusader" atop this monument offends me and my kind as this figure was no doubt a racist slave owner.
Remove this slap in the face and immediately replace with another stately marble tribute to tennis great Arthur Ashe. The nerve of some people.