Art and memory
Bismarck the biggest
The world's largest monument to Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck on the banks of the Elbe in Hamburg underwent extensive renovation between 2020 and 2023 and now shines in white – but where is the breaking point?
Gaston Kirsche,
so sein Pseudonym, läuft seit seiner Kindheit unter dem Bismarckdenkmal längs, hat Drucker gelernt, Ethnologie studiert, kennt Verlage und Gewerkschaftsarbeit
von innen, ist Journalist.
The world's largest monument to Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck underwent extensive renovation between 2020 and 2023. To mark the occasion, an accompanying competition was launched: ‘The visibility of the monument should be broken in order to highlight its conflicting relationship with the ideas of democracy, discourse and plurality in our open society, representative of hundreds of other Bismarck monuments in Germany". The Bismarck monument has now been completely renovated and shines in white – but where is the disruption?
A bastion on the banks of the Elbe. Since 1624, the ramparts had enclosed the fortified city of Hamburg in a semicircle that ended at the banks of the Elbe. During the Thirty Years' War, the ramparts protected the city from conquest. At the western end of the earthen wall was the Casparus bastion. It was here that a monumental memorial to the long-serving Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was erected between 1901 and 1906, designed by architect Emil Schaudt and sculptor Hugo Lederer.
The huge granite Bismarck statue still stands unmoved on the hill, looking down on everything that comes into the harbour from the North Sea. Below, there is a footpath and a wide road. The area around the Bismarck monument is, of course, undeveloped to emphasise its monumentality. The green space is called Alter Elbpark (Old Elbe Park). But even though trees have grown tall there in the meantime, the granite Bismarck is so high that it towers above everything. The Bismarck monument is 34 metres high in total – the 15-metre-high Bismarck figure stands on an enormous pedestal. It is built in the Roland style: a stocky warrior in armour, a sword planted in front of him, both hands resting on its hilt. The sword is 10 metres high.
The granite comes from the Black Forest. Eight male figures on the pedestal symbolise Germanic tribes. During the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and National Socialism, the monument was the destination of German nationalist marches.
From 1939 onwards, the cavities in the monument's base, which were intended for ventilation during construction – the ground is damp right next to the Elbe – were converted into a large air-raid shelter with 960 places. Partition walls were erected and a gas lock was built at the entrance, as evidenced by the corresponding inscription. Access to the shelter is closed, but in 2013 employees of Norddeutscher Rundfunk were able to take part in a tour – cracks and damage to the walls were shown, but the National Socialist design was also a topic of discussion. ‘Oak wreaths, stylised trees and garlands: in every room, drawings several metres in size adorn the walls, beneath which texts in Gothic script with martial content can be read,’ reported the NDR[ii]: ‘We are not in this world to be happy, but to do our duty,’ was one of the inscriptions. During the nights of bombing, the people of Hamburg could read quotes from Bismarck, slogans urging perseverance, and calls for discipline and loyalty when they sought shelter in the air-raid shelter under Bismarck's sword. A Reich eagle with a drawn sword in its claws can also be seen, as well as swastikas.
After the German Reich was defeated on 8 May 1945, homeless people lived in the bunker rooms for several years, until the city administration closed access to the pedestal in 1950. The Allied victory over Germany still had an impact, and the honouring of a warlike nationalist, anti-democrat and colonialist like Otto von Bismarck was not openly practised. The British occupying forces had considered blowing up the monument, but then shied away from doing so in view of its massive monumentality. Finally, in 1960, as part of the planning for the 1963 International Garden Show in Hamburg, the idea of dismantling the monument and erecting a viewing tower in its place was considered. But there is not that much common sense – the city has listed the Bismarck monument as a historical monument, which has prevented any radical changes to the monument to this day. Nevertheless, there are still those in Hamburg's social democratic circles who are interested in history and remember Bismarck's vigorous persecution and suppression of social democracy through the ‘Socialist Law’. Enlightened contemporaries also reject honouring Bismarck because he hosted the ‘Congo Conference’ in Berlin in 1884, at which the European military powers divided Africa among themselves as spoils, and the monument has been criticised on city tours and harbour tours since 1989. This can be read in the book edited by Heiko Möhle, ‘Brandy, Bibles and Bananas: German Colonialism in Africa – A Search for Traces’[iii].
In 2014 (printed matter 20/13930) and 2019 (printed matter 21/18360), the Hamburg Parliament decided to renovate and repair the Bismarck monument in the Old Elbe Park. The funds were quickly approved: the federal government is covering the largest share of the costs, 7.7 million euros, while Hamburg is contributing 1.2 million euros for the renovation of the monument. The city is also subsidising a further 6.4 million euros for the revitalisation of the surrounding Alter Elbpark, which is to be converted into a ‘garden monument’. An exhibition is to be set up inside the base of the monument. The renovation work began in March 2020.
At the same time, however, 2020 also saw the emergence of a transnational wave of protest against the glorification of colonialism, with monuments to well-known colonialists being toppled in several countries. In Hamburg, postcolonial initiatives spoke out to criticise the glorification of Otto von Bismarck.
And the criticism is substantiated in detail. On 20 June 2020, the initiative ‘Decolonize Bismarck’ published the analysis: ‘Decolonisation of public space: The Hamburg Bismarck monument is also a colonial monument’[iv]: "With the above-mentioned resolutions, the decision-makers have determined “that Otto von Bismarck's domestic and foreign policy actions ... have always been controversial and will remain so” and that his statue has polarised opinion from the outset (printed paper 21/18360). Thus, the monument has gone through cycles of veneration and contempt, rehabilitation and deconstruction. The Hamburg working class ostentatiously stayed away from the inauguration in 1906, while right-wing associations stylised Bismarck into a heroic myth in his monument and occupied the Old Elbe Park for decades for their ritualised gatherings. After the Second World War, a large number of almost fully grown trees were planted in the park to hide the outdated German nationalist and anti-democratic symbol from public view.
In 2001, the historical revisionist Association for Monument Preservation used private donations to illuminate the statue. In the process, Bismarck's admirers had the tall trees cut back to improve the view. The inauguration of the redesign in 2003 was marked by a militant march of right-wing fraternity members and neo-Nazis. In 2015, a group of artists mocked the figure by placing a ibex sculpture on its head. In 2020, the city is having the monument figure restored to its former glory and the trees trimmed so that the controversial symbol can once again be appreciated and honoured.
In 2020, the renovation could no longer be postponed. This brought the question to the forefront of public debate: what to do with the Bismarck monument? Ulrich Hentschel, a committed retired pastor, criticised the Bismarck monument in 2020[v]: "As a symbol of his political and ruling methods, he holds a large sword. War was a means of his politics: He enforced Germany's claim to power and the establishment of the German Empire, particularly against Poland, Denmark and France. His Kulturkampf was directed not only against the Catholic Church, but above all against neighbouring Catholic Poland. The aim was Germanisation in the heart of Europe. German influence and German profits were also the Chancellor's concerns at the Congo Conference he convened in 1884. ... Even if Otto von Bismarck's colonial policy was not guided by personal racist attitudes but by political interests, colonialism nevertheless fuelled the development of anti-human racist ideologies. And conversely, racist propaganda strengthened the acceptance of murderous military operations in the colonies."
Any intervention criticising German colonialism would have to recall many places of colonialism and go far beyond Bismarck and the Congo Conference he convened: ‘It is certain that the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce had urged him to do so in order to secure the land acquisitions of some Hamburg merchants such as Adolph Woermann in Africa.’
Senator Carsten Brosda attempted to capture the criticism of the various initiatives critical of the monument. In an interview with NDR[vii] on 29 June 2020, when asked what a revision or distortion of the Bismarck monument might look like, he explained: "It would not be good for the city to decree this. From the outset, it was clear that there should be a commentary exhibition in the plinth of the monument. However, it is important that we supplement this with something in the public space that makes it clear that this Bismarck has a history and stands for an authoritarian and colonial tradition, but that this is part of our history and we must address it."
What initially looks like an interesting, open process of discovery and decision-making has the catch that the Bismarck monument is a protected historical monument – which any artistic change would have to take into account. In 2020, Senator for Culture Carsten Brosda explains: "I would be very sympathetic to an artistic competition that asks how the monument can be counteracted. ... Ultimately, it must be about how we create the necessary sense of discomfort at this location so that everyone who passes by the monument does not simply walk on by unmoved, but knows that there is something here that they must confront."
So far, so good for the launch of the 2020 competition. After various workshops held in 2021, in which international experts discussed possible ways of dealing with the monument in the future, the time had come at the beginning of January 2023: the competition ‘Bismarck neu Denken’ (Rethinking Bismarck) was announced, in two languages as ‘Rethinking Bismarck’[viii].
The competition documents, available in five languages, state the following about the Bismarck monument: "Today, it is understood by many as an expression of an authoritarian and colonial tradition that is part of our history and to which we must and want to respond. A reframing of the widely visible monument is necessary because its setting, use and meaning have complex references to colonialism, National Socialism, discrimination and issues of social justice that have remained invisible until now." The invitation sounds promising: ‘Artists and architects are invited to develop ideas for contextualising the monument as part of a competition: the visibility of the monument is to be broken in order to highlight its conflicting relationship with the ideas of democracy, discourse and plurality in our open society, representative of hundreds of other Bismarck monuments in Germany. There is an explicit call to counteract the previous effect of the monumental Bismarck monument: ‘The aim of the competition is to make the invisible visible. Information and artistic interventions should open up a critical examination of the massive monument and its history.’
This brought supporters of uncritical homage to Bismarck onto the scene – not only the AfD, but also the CDU, which joined the Junge Union's initiative: ‘Preserve the Bismarck Monument’[ix]. They demand ‘that the comprehensively renovated Bismarck monument in the Old Elbe Park be preserved in its current form and not, as currently planned, redesigned and recontextualised. Instead, the Bismarck era should be addressed via information boards.’
In contrast, the competition jury promised to select three first-place winners and award-winning works that plan a critical artistic intervention: "A 13-member independent jury of experts from the fields of art, culture and science, including representatives of diasporic migrant initiatives that have long been critically examining Hamburg's colonial past, had intensively reviewed the submitted proposals in a two-stage competition process: In the first stage, all interested parties were able to develop ideas and submit brief concept sketches. From the 76 designs submitted, eight were selected and their creators were asked to submit a detailed elaboration for a second round of the competition." All submitted designs were published in a brochure[x]. The relatively short period between the announcement of the competition on 20 January 2023 and the first submission deadline on 16 March 2023, as well as the deadline for the second round of the competition on 25 May 2023, raised some critical questions[xi]. The entries come from a wide range of approaches, some of them are very original, and some solve the task of critically repositioning the monument in an interesting way. A break with the Bismarck cult appears in many of the entries and ideas. Given the size and mass of the monument, it is no easy task to proceed appropriately: some entries get lost in the details and are not far removed from the purely token ‘information boards’ favoured by the CDU opposition. Others take a radical approach to the mass and symbolism. One example is the entry ‘Let heads roll!’ by Kai Haberland and Ann-Christin Neugebauer: ‘The design is based on the conviction that the monumental memorial can only be dealt with through drastic intervention. To this end, Bismarck is attacked in such a way that his head will fall and roll, for which the height of the statue and the topography of the surroundings offer ideal conditions.’ Some of the works were so promising that nothing seemed to stand in the way of implementing the stated goal: ‘The perception of the monument should be broken.’
Eight authors selected by the jury were able to submit a detailed elaboration of their ideas for a second round of the competition. See the brochure ‘BISMARCK NEU DENKEN! International Open Ideas Competition’ from page 266[xii]:
1. ‘Colonialism Memorial’ by FFFW – Ferrari & Walter Architekturpartnerschaft mbBAs
A frame for the memorial, a platform next to the statue and a community centre with a variety of rooms for interaction are proposed, in which ‘decolonisation as discourse’ can take place: ‘The platform at the Bismarck Memorial will only reach its full potential in harmony with the activities in the Community Centre and the Colonialism Memorial as a whole. Only when civil society and Hamburg's cultural and political institutions make use of these facilities will visitors be able to perceive (learn to perceive) Bismarck's memorial from a critical second-order perspective.’
While this draft delegates responsibility for content design to users, the second proposal, submitted by a long-standing critic of colonialism, takes a clear stance:
2. ‘Zutexten – Anschlag einer resilienten Welt’ (ZUTEXTEN – Attacking a resilient world) by Hannimari Jokinen: ‘The ZUTEXTEN project counters the gigantic solitary figure on its pedestal, built of granite for eternity, with resilient and empowering voices, memories and poetry from collectives around the world.’ Taking its inspiration from graffiti, which is constantly being added to the base of the statue, this proposal involves ‘texting’ the monument with fragments of poetry: ‘The large-scale text covering the pedestal figure and its colonial surroundings achieves maximum alienation effect without damaging the substance of the monument.’ Writers from the former German colonies are to be involved. This contribution already addresses the objections of the monument protection authority.
3. ‘Work in Progress’ by Delventhal Martin Architects. Similar to the first proposal, this design focuses on opening up a space for interaction between members of the public. The monument is completely and permanently covered in scaffolding, with an open space next to it that is protected from the street and provides a place for people to meet. The airiness of the open scaffolding takes away the monument's massive, intimidating heaviness.
4. ‘Bismarck at Eye Level’ by Atelier Sigma Talberg. The idea: Bismarck's head is temporarily removed for two years and sent on a journey. It is then placed back on the body. The head was on the road for almost two years. It met experts, historians, activists and artists; it was reflected upon, reconceptualised and artistically questioned. Based on the experiences of the journey, a graphic novel and an augmented reality history trail are being created.
Interactivity also plays a major role in this proposal, but it is even more central to the fifth proposal:
5. ‘Climbing Bismarck’ by noroomgallery. Here, the monument is conceived as a climbing monolith and made available for use: "By climbing the granite monolith, we want to invite young and old alike to take a fresh look at German history, spark discussions and experience a modern city with a rich and complicated history in a contemporary way. Our vision is to give school classes, groups and individuals a literally new perspective on the monument. We want to invite the residents and visitors of this city to playfully overcome the rigid and military harshness of the monument and see it in a new light. This proposal is based on the social leisure needs of the surrounding neighbourhoods, which have few sports and recreation areas. And it offers perhaps the most effective way to rededicate Bismarck through recreational climbing.
6. ‘Bismarck at eye level’ by Studio M8s. Here, too, the monumentality and grandeur of the memorial are cleverly broken up: a round steel scaffold surrounds the Bismarck memorial, which can be climbed up to a platform at head height, offering a view of both Bismarck's head and the surroundings from his eye level, thus creating a changed perception.
7. ‘Screen – Rethinking Bismarck’ by Naomie Chokoago. As you approach the monument, you pass QR code information pillars. Large LED walls surround the base, displaying a news ticker. Behind the 15-metre-high Bismarck figure, a screen of equal height is installed, equipped with a powerful projector to cast the shadow of the Bismarck statue onto the screen and overlay it with historical images and quotations.
8. ‘Hamburg's Dark Side’ by Sima Deigert. This proposal takes up the interior space of the pedestal, which also contains traces of the dark side of the Nazi dictatorship: "Inside the bunker, the Bismarck quotations visible in the individual cells of the bunker are contextualised by audio installations. Short contributions reflect the context of Bismarck's sayings. In three rooms, the use of the bunker is also addressed. The lighting, which makes the sayings visible only when backlit, allows them to be perceived as the dark sides of Bismarck's history." For the outside of the pedestal, the existing use as a spray surface is also taken up here: "We therefore propose to coat the pedestal with a protective paint that allows graffiti to be removed. In consultation with the relevant authorities in the city of Hamburg, however, a permanent and changing artistic engagement with the monument should be possible here. We suggest creating a new artistic engagement with the monument through graffiti every five years. In this way, the redesign through graffiti art could take place at a specific time every five years, combined with a critical reflection on Bismarck and the monument.
But everything turned out differently – on 5 July 2023, the jury announced a surprising twist and unanimously declared the project a failure. The €27,000 prize money will be divided equally among the eight proposals that made it to the second round – but none of the proposals will be implemented:
‘At its meeting on 5 July 2023, the jury unanimously decided that an individual artistic intervention did not fulfil the task in all its complexity and with all its facets, and recommended that, in a constructive next step, the focus of the process should shift more towards communication and social discourse’.
This self-abandonment by the jury did not come as a complete surprise. ‘But it soon became apparent that an open-ended discussion and, above all, decision-making process was not desired,’ Ulrich Henschel explained in a critique on 5 March 2023 [xiii]: "Hamburg's government and its Senator for Culture instead followed the principle they are familiar with: top-down instead of bottom-up. Thus, the Bismarck beautification project was pushed forward. At the same time, the cultural authority invited artists from all over the world to a series of events, spread out over a conspicuously long period of time, at which they were allowed to present their projects and possible ideas for Bismarck. But it was not until January 2023 that the call for proposals for a complementary design for the monument was published by the Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation (SHMH) together with the cultural authority, under the motto: ‘Rethinking Bismarck’. That sounds good, but it is probably not meant to be all that serious. For alongside a thoroughly critical view of the figure of the founder of the German Empire, the call for tenders contains some remarkable details that testify less to a new way of thinking than to a de facto adherence to the old monument.
But above all, according to Henschel, ‘the call for tenders stipulates that the 35-metre-high monument must not be touched’. Hamburg's Senator for Culture made it clear on 22 January 2023 on Deutschlandfunk radio: ‘Bismarck himself is a monument and is protected. In this respect, it is not a question of changing Bismarck in his substance [...] Nor is it a question of encasing Bismarck or whatever other pretty things I have read about.’ [xiv]
‘However, such “pretty things” had been presented in detail in the series of events organised by the Senator for Culture himself, such as covering colonial monuments with local fabrics or slowly overgrowing the monument with greenery. All nonsense, the Senator now mocks,’ Henschel said in his criticism: ‘Of course, that's out of the question, it's a listed monument. With the senator's dictum on the untouchability of the monument, many of the ideas put forward in the last two years are off the table, such as tilting the entire monument or fencing it in with barbed wire.’
But what made the jury give up? Jürgen Zimmerer, himself a member of the jury and head of the Hamburg (Post-)Colonial Heritage Research Centre since 2014, speaks plainly: ‘It is absurd that the institution of monument protection defines the limits of the decolonisation of a monument, because that automatically means that the imperial institution of the monument is perpetuated forever.’ As a result, no convincing design could be created – through no fault of the artists involved: ‘We came to the conclusion that an artistic intervention does not seem possible under the conditions of this competition.’[xv] He went on to explain to Euronews: ‘I protested during the first phase (of the competition),’ said jury member Jürgen Zimmerer.[xvi] The competition was obviously a farce. The completely renovated Bismarck now shines whiter than ever and watches over the Elbe. Although, actually, he looks like an oversized pimp looking up the Reeperbahn and watching over the sexual exploitation there. Which doesn't make things any better.
[iii] https://www.assoziation-a.de/buch/Branntwein_Bibeln_und_Bananen
[iv] www.afrika-hamburg.de/PDF/hamburgbismarckdekolonial.pdf
[v] https://linksabbieger.net/2020/07/02/aufgehuebschte-kolonialgeschichte/
[viii] https://www.luchterhandt.de/essential_grid/1416/
[ix] https://cduhamburg.de/bismarck-denkmal-erhalten/
[x] https://issuu.com/shmh/docs/230810_1416_brosch_re_neu_digital
[xii] https://issuu.com/shmh/docs/230810_1416_brosch_re_neu_digital