Memorial Johann David Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, Bronze military memorial on Unter den Linden, Berlin, Germany.
The Yorck Memorial is a 2.65-metre bronze figure of Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg in contemporary uniform, head turned to the right, his left hand resting on a sabre and his right hand laid over it. It stands on a granite pedestal whose bronze reliefs show Pax with an olive branch on the front and the Yorck von Wartenburg coat of arms on the back. Karl Friedrich Schinkel designed it and Christian Daniel Rauch executed it; the bronze was cast by Claude François Lequine.
Designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and executed by Christian Daniel Rauch, the memorial was cast in bronze by Claude François Lequine and erected in 1855 at the front of the Opernplatz, opposite the Neue Wache. A bomb hit in World War II tore it from its pedestal; the SED had it removed on 24 May 1950, and its lower body was scrapped in December 1951. Re-erected in 1963, it lost its original inscription, shortened to "YORCK", and its pedestal was reduced from 3.83 to 2.83 metres.
The memorial bears the name of a field marshal remembered for his role in the Wars of Liberation. Visitors see here a work reflecting Prussian history and military tradition.
The memorial stands at the rear of Bebelplatz's green space, not on Unter den Linden; the original site was about 50 metres further forward on the avenue. It is reached on foot from the Staatsoper and St. Hedwig's Cathedral, and the surrounding streets are pedestrian-friendly.
The original inscription read "FRIEDRICH WILHELM IV / DEM FELDMARSCHALL / GR. YORK V. WARTENBURG / IM IAHRE MDCCCLV"; when the statue was re-erected in 1963 it was shortened to just "YORCK", the pedestal reduced from 3.83 to 2.83 metres and the surrounding railing removed. The lower body had been scrapped in December 1951 for non-ferrous metal.
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