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The Waterloo Column (German: Waterloosäule) is a victory column commemorating the Battle of Waterloo in Hanover in the German state of Lower Saxony. Built from 1825 to 1832, it was designed by Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves, who had been the Hanover court architect since 1814. While a statue of the goddess victory is placed atop the column, the sentiment is somewhat tempered by the tribute to fallen soldiers named on the column's base.^[1] The troops honored, though German, had been fighting in an army loyal to King George III, who ruled the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, since he was also the ruler of the Kingdom of Hanover through Personal Union.

Description

The column reached a height of 46.31 metres (151.9 ft), while the diameter of the column is 3.5 metres (11 ft 6 in). Its base displays the names of fallen soldiers from regiments named for towns in the kingdom of Hanover, as well as the dedication "Den Siegern von Waterloo, das dankbare Vaterland" (To the victors of Waterloo, [from] the thankful fatherland).^[2] The base of the column displays the names of the 876 fallen soldiers.^[3]

The final concept for the project was a celebration of the victory of the state and its monarch.^[1] The statue of the goddess of victory atop the column was designed by August Hengst.^[1]^[3] The statue is 6.3 metres (21 ft) and is made out of copper and iron.^[3] It originated in the metalworker Conrad Beckmann's workshop.^[3]

The column's base incorporates eight barrels of field cannons captured in the battle, which are displayed vertically in the column's base.^[1] A spiral staircase with about 190 steps in the column's interior leads to an observation platform on the top.^[3] It is possible to visit this observation platform, but only on certain days.^[4]

Historic background

The list of fallen soldiers includes members of the King's German Legion. Many men from Hanover had joined up with the King's German Legion. King George III, who was also the Elector of Hanover, created this Legion due to Napoleon's invasion and occupation of Hanover in 1803. New recruits continued to arrive in Britain in order to reject French occupation.^[5] The occupiers had made Hanover part of the puppet state of the Kingdom of Westphalia. While not all the soldiers in the Legion were from Hanover, the Legion was meant to be specifically for German troops.^[5]

After the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, Hanover, with somewhat expanded boundaries, was reconstituted as an electorate (even though the Holy Roman Empire, which the electorate was a part of, had been dissolved). However, by the time of the Battle of Waterloo, it had become the Kingdom of Hanover. George III was the king of Hanover and of Britain, but the kingdoms were still separate as it was a personal union.^[a] This is why differing succession laws were able, in 1837, to cause Queen Victoria to become Queen of England while Ernest Augustus became the king of Hanover.^[6]^[7]

The Battle of Waterloo took place on 18 June 1815. The battle was between Napoleon's France on the one side and Hanover, the Duchy of Brunswick, Prussia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the Duchy of Nassau on the other. The troops in this battle included those in the King's German Legion.^[5]^[b] In Hanover, there was civic support for a memorial honoring the dead from Hanover by 1816. Funding issues resulted in the project stalling, then eventually picked up by the state.^[1]

Symbolism and reception

During World War II, the tower remained standing despite damage to surrounding military targets.^[2] Probably due to luck, a modern web exhibition by the Cambridge University library recounts that "the column survived intact, bearing witness to an earlier era in which a coalition of powers was united against expansionist militarism".^[2] The Allied bombing of Germany in World War II is implicitly presented as similar to the coalition action against Napoleon at Waterloo.^[2]

In 1965, Queen Elizabeth II had intended to lay a wreath at the column. However, West Germany was less comfortable with military heroism than many Germans in decades past, and the West German government was also careful not to offend the French, who were now their allies.^[9]^[10] The wreath-laying was called off.^[9]^[10]

In 2014, the statue of victory at the top of the column was given a German flag, likely in honor of Germany's team in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.^[11] While this display of patriotism may not have been officially sanctioned, the Waterloo Square, where the column is located, has hosted many large viewing parties for significant sporting events. It was the site of daily public viewing parties of up to 17,000 during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.^[12] The square hosted viewing parties for the UEFA European Championship in 2024.^[13]

Notes

^ For an analysis of the union and how it was viewed by contemporaries in each kingdom toward the end of the union, see Harding (2007)^[6]
^ In fact, Simms (2015) recounts the affect that one particular battalion of The King's German Legion had on the battle. According to this work, the 400 soldiers of the 2nd Light Battalion had an outsized role in the battle, holding a farm at the centre of the battle line until reinforcements arrived to help them continue.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Waterloosäule". Denkmalatlas Niedersachsen (in German). 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "A damned serious business". Virtual Exhibitions. 15 November 1916. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Waterloosäule". Geschichte unterwegs (in German). Retrieved 11 December 2024.
^ Brandau, Achim (5 June 2023). "Der schönste Aussichtspunkt in Hannover". Hannover entdecken ... (in German). Archived from the original on 11 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Simms, Brendan (2015). The longest afternoon: the 400 men who decided the Battle of Waterloo. New York, NY: Basic Books. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-465-06482-3.
^ ^a ^b Harding, Nick (2007). Hanover and the British Empire, 1700-1837. Woodbridge (GB) Rochester (N.Y.): Boydell & Brewer. p. 262-281. ISBN 978-1-84383-300-0.
^ "European Royalty & Inheritance Rights". Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 July 1998. Archived from the original on 23 December 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
^ Simms, Brendan (2015). The longest afternoon: the 400 men who decided the Battle of Waterloo. New York, NY: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-06482-3.
^ ^a ^b Simms, Brendan (2015). The longest afternoon: the 400 men who decided the Battle of Waterloo. New York, NY: Basic Books. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-465-06482-3.
^ ^a ^b Norton-Taylor, Richard (9 June 2015). "Waterloo: A German victory?". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
^ Woidtke, Katja (12 April 2015). "Hannover entdecken: Recht "rüstig" für ihr Alter". myheimat.de (in German). Archived from the original on 15 December 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
^ "Postcard from Hannover". The Washington Times. 11 June 2006. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
^ Wiemer, Pina Olivia (10 June 2024). "Fußball-EM 2024 in Deutschland: Hier findest du die besten Public-Viewing-Spots". prosieben (in German). Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.