Goethe Monument, Marble monument at Großer Tiergarten, Germany
The Goethe Monument is a six-metre Carrara marble memorial at the eastern edge of the Tiergarten on Ebertstraße, between the Brandenburg Gate and Lennéstraße. Fritz Schaper carved it in the Neo-Baroque style of the Berlin Sculpture School. The poet stands 2.72 metres tall on a round pedestal above a stepped base with three allegorical groups: a muse with lyre and an Eros for lyric poetry, a seated woman with writing tools and a genius with lowered torch for drama, and a reading woman for science.
Sculptor Fritz Schaper designed the monument between 1876 and 1880 following a public competition with many submitted proposals. After damage and restoration work, the monument returned to its original location in 2012.
The figures at the base show different aspects of Goethe's work through symbols of poetry and science. Visitors can see these allegorical representations directly and understand what made the poet significant.
The monument stands on the Ebertstraße at the eastern edge of the Tiergarten, between the Brandenburg Gate and Lennéstraße, facing the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It is a free-standing outdoor work that can be walked around on foot, with the stepped base and the cast-iron protective fence restored between 2009 and 2012.
The Lotte Group's Seoul headquarters holds a faithful bronze copy made in 2016, produced by 3D scanning to spare the Berlin marble. The company takes its name from Lotte (Charlotte) in Goethe's 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, which founder Shin Kyuk-ho read in 1941 at age 19.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,901 contributors worldwide.
