The Siegessäule is a Victory column in Tiergarten, a large park in the center of Berlin. The column is adorned with mosaics and topped with a gilded allegorical statue of Victory.In the 1830s, the two hundred hectare (495 acre) large Tiergarten, a Royal hunting estate, was turned into a park. Centrally located between Mitte and Charlottenburg it is a favorite picnic and barbecue place. At the center of a large roundabout in the Tiergarten, known as the Grosser Stern or great star stands the tall Siegessäule.The cocky looking triumphal column was built from 1864 to 1873 after a design by Johann Heinrich Stack to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Prusso-Danish war of 1864. The 8.3m (25ft) gilded figure at the top was added after further Prussian victories in wars against Austria and France. The figure, designed by Friedrich Drake and locally known as the 'Goldene Else' represents the Goddess of Victory. The gilded statue weighs a massive 35 tons.
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