Associated Press
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., right, and Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit jokingly pump their fists after Obama was presented with a porcelain bear, the symbol of Berlin. Obama will deliver his keenly-awaited Berlin speech in front of the Victory Column – one of the capital's best-known monuments.
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BERLIN – Barack Obama will deliver his keenly-awaited Berlin speech in front of the Victory Column – one of the capital's best-known monuments with a turbulent history that has mirrored the city's ups and downs.
The 226-foot column was built to commemorate Prussian victories over Denmark, Austria and France. Kaiser Wilhelm I presided over its inauguration on Sept. 2, 1873.
The column is topped by a winged golden figure meant to represent both Victoria, the goddess of victory, and Borussia, the allegorical figure of Prussia.
The monument originally stood in front of the Reichstag, Germany's parliament building.
It was moved to its current location, on the Grosser Stern plaza in the middle of the city's Tiergarten park, in the late 1930s as part of never-completed plans by Adolf Hitler's architect, Albert Speer, for a grandiose remake of Nazi Germany's capital, which was to be renamed “Germania.”
The column stayed in place after Germany's defeat in 1945, despite some initial talk of dismantling it, and became a top West Berlin landmark. Visitors can climb 265 steps to an observation platform.
Over the years, it has been a focus of events such as the Love Parade techno party, a popular Berlin fixture in the 1990s and early 2000s.
