The Goethe memorial in Tiergarten is the original from 1880, but it wasn’t always the case. For many years, it was replaced by a replica made of concrete.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is Germany’s most influential poet, and although he is not from Berlin, he is honored in Tiergarten. His memorial is a marble statue from 1880, but for a long time it was replaced by a replica made of concrete.
The Goethe memorial in Tiergarten is carved from marble and features a 2.7-meter-tall statue of Goethe on a pedistal.
The monument is 6 meters tall. Around the base are figures showing Goethe’s poetry. There is a muse with a lyre and Eros, who represents dramatic poetry.
During World War II, the monument suffered minor war damage. Bullet holes and damage from shrapnel can be seen on some of the figures and on the pedestal.
Photo by Chrissie Sternschnuppe@Flickr. CC BY-SA.
However, the Goethe memorial couldn’t survive the increasing air polution in Berlin after the war. The marble slowly disintegrated as time passed in the middle of the big city.
So in 1982, the entire monument was removed and moved to a location where the marble could be preserved, and five years later, a concrete replica was erected in its place.
But the concrete didn’t last either, so in 2010, after a ceaseless endeavor, the statue of the famous German poet was restored and returned to its original location.
Missing figures had also been added, and a cast-iron fence surrounding the Goethe memorial in Tiergarten protects the restored marble monument from 1880.
Where:
Ebertstraße 18
10117 Berlin
Family friendly: Yes
Price: Free
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