Kyffhauser Monument Germany

The Kyffhäuser Monument, Germany is also known as the Barbarossa Monument or the Kaiser Wilhelm Monument. It is located on the summit of the Kyffhäuser Mountain, near Bad Frankenhausen in Thuirangia in central Germany. The Kyffhäuser Monument is 267 feet tall. It was built in the year 1890 – 1896 by the German architect Bruno Schmitz on the ruins of the medieval fort of Kyffhäusen. The Kyffhäuser Monument was proposed by the 19th century German War Veteran’s Federation. It reminds the traveler of the Hohenstaufen period between the 12th and 13th centuries. The Kyffhäuser was made to suggest that the German Empire was the legal successor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (c. 900 - 1806).

The Kyffhäuser Monument features a 22 feet tall sandstone figure of the Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick I von Hohenstaufen, who is also called Barbarossa or “the Red Bearded”. In the sculpture, he appears to have just awakened from sleep. Above Barbarossa stands the bronze figurine of Kaiser William I, the founding emperor of the Second Reich, in neo-baroque style. The structure of the Kyffhäuser Monument is meant to emphasize that it was William I who unified Germany that was desired since the era of Barbarossa.

The Kyffhäuser Monument, Germany is towered by a 188 feet construct of a huge imperial crown. If you climb a flight of 247 steps, you will reach the apex and obtain a bird’s eye view. An adjacent building features the Legend of Barbarossa, who died in the Third Crusade in the 12th century. It is believed that Barbarossa will spring to life one day for Germany is need of him even today. The Kyffhäuser Monument is the third largest in Germany, after the Battle of Nations Monument in Leipzig and the Kaiser Wilhelm Monument in Porta Westfalica.