Berolina is the female personification of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and the

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...

female figure symbolizing the city. One of the best-known portraits of Berolina is the statue that once stood in

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...

Statue

Berlin Heimkehr d Heeres 16-06-1871 (H Scherenberg IZ 57)

In 1871, emperor

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

ordered an Berolina statue in Belle-Alliance-Platz (today's

Mehringplatz Mehringplatz is a round plaza (or circus)A circus is "circular open space at a street junction" at the southern tip of the Friedrichstadt (Berlin), Friedrichstadt Boroughs and neighborhoods of Berlin, neighborhood of Kreuzberg district, Berlin. ...

), to glorify the homecoming victorious troops of the Franco-Prussian War. Another statue was designed in 1889 by the sculptors (1846–1911) and

Michel Lock Michel Lock, originally Hubert Michael Lock (27 April 1848, Cologne - 20 February 1898, Berlin) was a German sculptor. Life and work His father was a merchant. He had sixteen siblings, and began an apprenticeship as a wood carver at the age of ...

(1848–1898) as a decorative element for the state visit of King

Umberto I of Italy Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900. Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...

. The Berolina figure was produced in plaster and was placed on

Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corne ...

. The statue of showed a woman with a crown of oak leaves. The inspiration allegedly was from a painting in the ''

Rotes Rathaus The Rotes Rathaus (, ''Red City Hall'') is the town hall of Berlin, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home to the governing mayor and the government (the Senate of Berlin) of the state of Berlin. The ...

'' city hall that featured cobbler's daughter Anna Sasse. Later, in 1895, the gypsum figure by Hundrieser was copper-melted and unveiled in Alexanderplatz on December 17. Weighing five tonnes, it was placed in front of the site where

Hermann Tietz Hermann Tietz (born 29 April 1837, in Birnbaum an der Warthe near Posen (today Międzychód, Poland), died on 3 May 1907 in Berlin) was a German-Jewish merchant, co-founder of the Tietz Department Store. He was buried in the Weißensee Cemet ...

erected his department store in 1904. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R94716, Berlin, die

The statue was damaged in the barricade fights of the

German Revolution of 1918–19 German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. It had to be removed during the construction of the U5 underground line in 1927, but was set up again in 1933. The nearby ''Berolinahaus'', built in 1929–32 according to plans by

Peter Behrens Peter Behrens (14 April 1868 – 27 February 1940) was a leading German architect, graphic and industrial designer, best known for his early pioneering AEG Turbine Hall in Berlin in 1909. He had a long career, designing objects, typefaces, and ...

, was named after the statue. Finally dismantled on 26 August 1942, it was probably melted down in 1944 for war purposes. A model is preserved at the

Märkisches Museum The Märkisches Museum ( Marcher Museum; originally Märkisches Provinzial-Museum, i.e. Museum of the Province of the March f Brandenburg is a museum in Mitte, Berlin. Founded in 1874 as the museum of the city of Berlin and its political regi ...

. In 2000, an association named "Wiedererstellung und Pflege der Berolina e.V." (''Recreation and Maintenance of Berolina eV'') was created with the aim to rebuild the statue.

Name

Many Berliner companies are named "Berolina". A leading German film studio of the 1950s was called

Berolina Film Berolina Film (often shortened to Berolina) was a film production company which operated in West Germany between 1948 and 1964. The film's production was supervised by the experienced Kurt Ulrich and was based in West Berlin. The company helped l ...

. In the past, there were several radio and television broadcasts in which references were made to the city's

personification Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...

. Today, it is the popular name of central Berlin Police radio. In 1980s, the "Berolina" music awards were organized, sponsored by the TV networks ARD,

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

and

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

, and hosted on television by

Thomas Gottschalk Thomas Johannes Gottschalk (born 18 May 1950) is a German radio and television host and entertainer. He is best known for hosting '' Wetten, dass..?'', for many years Europe's biggest television show, which he steered to huge success in Germany, ...

on 27 August 1987 with a total of 15 musicians and bands. Several songs, poems, and plays are named "Berolina"; as for example, works by

Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel. Tucholsky was on ...

,''Berolina'' by Kurt Tucholsky
/ref> Günter Neumann,

Ulli Herzog Ulli may refer to: * Pulkovo Airport (ICAO airport code ULLI) * Cyclone Ulli, an intense and deadly European windstorm, forming on December 31, 2011, off the coast of New Jersey and dissipating January 7, 2012 See also * Uli (disambiguation)

, and

Alexander von Bentheim Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. The

Main belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...

asteroid 422 Berolina, is also named after the city.

Photogallery

File:1889 Berolina.jpg, Berolina in Potsdamer Platz, 1889 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R75280, Berlin, "Berolina" am Alexanderplatz.jpg, Berolina in Alexanderplatz, 1900 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J03164, Berlin, Abtragen der Berolina-Statue.jpg, The statue in 1942 File:Berlin, Hausvogteiplatz, Tanzende Berolina von Axel Anklam.jpg, ''Dancing Berolina'', sculpture of Axel Anklam, in Hausvogteiplatz (2004)

Notes

References

External links

Berolina Statue website
of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

{{coord missing, Berlin Culture in Berlin History of Berlin Buildings and structures in Mitte Civic personifications