The Bismarck Monument in Bad Kissingen is located in Hausen (a quarter of the German spa town,

Bad Kissingen Bad Kissingen is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which beca ...

), which Chancellor Otto von Bismarck visited 14 times to "take the cure" between 1876 and 1893. The monument was built in 1877, during his lifetime. It was the first statue to be erected in Bismarck's honour.

History

In 1877, the Committee for the Erection of a Statue of the German Chancellor Bismarck in Kissingen (''Comité für die Aufstellung einer Statue des deutschen Reichskanzlers Fürst Bismarck in Kissingen''), founded in 1875, commissioned the artist, Heinrich Manger, to create a Bismarck monument. The erection of a statue to a living person required the permission of the Bavarian king. In giving his approval, King

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

, directed that the monument should not be located at the spot where an assassination attempt on Bismarck had been carried out in 1874, but rather near the ''Untere Saline'' ("Lower Saltworks") on the Franconian Saale river, where Bismarck had relaxed during his cures. The majority of the cost of the statue, amounting to 7,800

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, was covered by contributions collected by spa guests.Sieglinde Seele: ''Lexikon der Bismarck-Denkmäler''. Michael Imhof, Petersberg 2005, pp. 227f. The monument's unveiling, on Sunday 29 April 1877 at 10 o'clock, was covered in detail by the local newspaper, the ''Saale-Zeitung''. Chancellor Bismarck expressed his gratitude in a telegramme during the formal dinner at the ''Englischer Hof'', during which master builder, Manger, Privy Councillor, Dr. Stöhr, and the Lord Mayor, Dr. Full, gave speeches honouring 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 10 ...

. Nevertheless, Bismarck probably never saw the monument himself because, as he said in a speech on 28 November 1881, he would be highly embarrassed to pass by his own statue. In addition, he said it would have disturbed him ''"to stand next to himself like a fossil"''. The monument, which inspired the design of the Bismarck Monument in Cologne, amongst others, had to be galvanised with a layer of bronze for reasons of durability shortly before Bismarck's 100th anniversary in 1915. This was carried out by the ''

Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik WMF (formerly known as Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik) is a German tableware manufacturer, founded in 1853 in Geislingen an der Steige. History WMF was originally called ''Metallwarenfabrik Straub & Schweizer'' and was opened as a metal ...

'' in

Geislingen an der Steige Geislingen an der Steige is surrounded by the heights of the Swabian Alb and embedded in 5 beautiful valleys. It is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The name relates to its location "on the climb ...

References

{{reflist Bad Kissingen Bronze sculptures in Germany Buildings and structures completed in 1877 Buildings and structures in Bad Kissingen (district) Monuments and memorials in Germany

Outdoor sculptures in Germany Statues in Germany 1877 establishments in Germany

History

Further reading

See also

References