Victory Column

The Victory Column (German: Siegessäule pronounced [ˈziːɡəsˌzɔɪ̯lə] , from Sieg 'victory' + Säule 'column') is a monument in Berlin, Germany. Designed by Heinrich Strack after 1864 to commemorate the Prussian victory over Denmark in the Second Schleswig War, by the time it was inaugurated on 2 September 1873, Prussia had also defeated Austria and its German allies in the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and France in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), giving the statue a new purpose. Different from the original plans, these later victories in the unification wars inspired the addition of the bronze sculpture of Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory, 8.3 metres (27 ft) high, designed by Friedrich Drake, giving the victory column its current height of 67m.