Kaiser-Wilhelm-Nationaldenkmal

The National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Nationaldenkmal) was a memorial structure in Berlin dedicated to Wilhelm I, first Emperor of a unified Germany. It stood in front of the Stadtschloss from 1897 through 1950, when both structures were demolished by the GDR government.

The monument was an equestrian statue of the first German Emperor Wilhelm I, on the Spree Canal along the Eosander portal on the west side of the Berlin City Palace. The design of the memorial was directly influenced by Wilhelm I's grandson, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the neo-baroque style of the memorial is the main work of sculptor Reinhold Begas, who had also designed the Victory Boulevard and the Bismarck National Memorial which was originally placed in front of the Reichstag building.

The planned Monument to Freedom and Unity is to be located on the base originally constructed for the monument.

After the death of Wilhelm I in the Year of Three Emperors (1888) an open competition for the establishment of a central national monument to his memory was tendered the next year. The first competition, in which the architect Bruno Schmitz with the draft "Imperial Forum" was chosen, did not bring the desired results. So in 1891 a second, limited bid to only eight selected artists was tendered. The location of the monument was laid down on the west side of the City Palace, along the Spree Canal. The design of Reinhold Begas and Gustav Halmhuber was eventually chosen.

When it became known that the Emperor desired to have one of his favorite artists, Reinhold Begas, added to the list of the original eight artists invited to submit designs for the second competition, four of those artists withdrew. As might be expected, Begas won the competition and contracted sculptor Wilhelm von Rümann and his students to assist with creating the statues for his memorial design. The architectural part of the design was devised by the Stuttgart architect Gustav Halmhuber, who won the competition with his collaborator Begas, even against the design submitted by favored court architect Ernst von Ihne.

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