Statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I

One of the main attractions of the city of Koblenz is the statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I, erected at the confluence of two rivers on a triangular land plot. It was inaugurated on 31 August 1897 in the presence of Grand Kaiser Wilhelm II. From 1953 to 1990, the monument was called the Memorial of German Unity. The monument was created with folk funds, the height of the statue itself is 14 meters, and the total height of the structure is 37 meters. The gloomy heavy copper sculpture, towering on a huge granite pedestal, is the true embodiment of the German megalomania of those times.

In the final days of the 1945 war, the statue was vandalized by angry American soldiers. Since 1953, a mast bearing the German flag has been installed in its place as a reminder of the former unity of Germany. In 1985, the famous collector Peter Ludwig appointed a reward for the reconstruction of the monument, and the sculptor Raimund Knittel created a replica of the Kaiser's equestrian figure in bronze, which weighed about 65 tons. The installation of the new monument was delayed for political reasons, it was re-erected on a pedestal only after the reunification of Germany in 1993.