The tripto catalogue lists 14 monuments and memorials – places of remembrance, 19th-century national monuments and statues that have become symbols of their cities.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe by the Brandenburg Gate consists of about 2,700 concrete stelae; the field and the exhibition in the Information Centre are free. The Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig is 91 metres high and commemorates the battle of 1813, with a crypt, colossal figures and a viewing platform. The Hermann Monument near Detmold, a 53-metre copper figure of Arminius, has a viewing platform on its base. Above Rüdesheim stands the Niederwald Monument with its 12-metre Germania, free to visit and reachable by cable car. King Ludwig I's Hall of Liberation towers over Kelheim with views of the Danube and Altmühl, and Gerhard Marcks' Town Musicians of Bremen stand by the town hall – legend has it that holding the donkey's legs grants you a wish.
Most monuments in the catalogue are in Bavaria (three: the Bavaria statue, the Hall of Liberation and Walhalla); the rest are one per state.
In practice: one to two hours is usually enough. Memorials and statues in public spaces are free, viewing platforms usually cost €5, and the Battle of the Nations monument €12 including the museum. Under-18s go free at Bavarian monuments such as the Bavaria statue and the Hall of Liberation. With children, the Town Musicians, the Hermann Monument and the Laboe Naval Memorial are good choices.
Monuments
Berlin
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, widely known as the Holocaust Memorial, is Germany's central place of remembrance for the six million Jews killed in the Shoah. Just south of the Brandenburg Gate, a field of gray conc…
Monuments
Leipzig
The Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal) in Leipzig is a colossal stone memorial, 91 meters (299 feet) tall, built to mark the centenary of Napoleon's decisive defeat near Leipzig in October 1813. With its brooding…
Monuments
Detmold
The Hermannsdenkmal (Hermann Monument) near Detmold is a colossal copper statue of the Germanic chieftain Arminius, standing 53.46 meters (175 feet) tall on a forested hill in the Teutoburg Forest. Unveiled in 1875, it commemorates the amb…
Monuments
Rüdesheim am Rhein
The Niederwald Monument above Rüdesheim am Rhein is one of Germany's best-known national monuments, crowned by a giant bronze Germania gazing out over the vineyards of the Rheingau. Built to celebrate the founding of the German Empire afte…
Monuments
Kelheim
The Befreiungshalle, or Hall of Liberation, is a massive rotunda on the Michelsberg hill above Kelheim in Lower Bavaria, where the Altmühl River meets the Danube. King Ludwig I built it to celebrate the victories over Napoleon in the Wars…
Monuments
Bremen
The Town Musicians of Bremen statue by Gerhard Marcks is the city's most photographed landmark: a bronze donkey, dog, cat and rooster stacked on top of each other beside Bremen's Town Hall, just off the Market Square. Inspired by the Broth…
Monuments
Berlin
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, widely known as the Holocaust Memorial, is Germany's central place of remembrance for the six million Jews killed in the Shoah. Just south of the Brandenburg Gate, a field of gray conc…
Monuments
Detmold
The Hermannsdenkmal (Hermann Monument) near Detmold is a colossal copper statue of the Germanic chieftain Arminius, standing 53.46 meters (175 feet) tall on a forested hill in the Teutoburg Forest. Unveiled in 1875, it commemorates the amb…
Monuments
Leipzig
The Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal) in Leipzig is a colossal stone memorial, 91 meters (299 feet) tall, built to mark the centenary of Napoleon's decisive defeat near Leipzig in October 1813. With its brooding…
Monuments
Rüdesheim am Rhein
The Niederwald Monument above Rüdesheim am Rhein is one of Germany's best-known national monuments, crowned by a giant bronze Germania gazing out over the vineyards of the Rheingau. Built to celebrate the founding of the German Empire afte…
Monuments
München
The Bavaria statue in Munich is a huge bronze figure on a hill above the Theresienwiese fairground, in front of the Hall of Fame (Ruhmeshalle). It is one of the more unusual things to do in Munich, because you can climb up inside the statu…
Monuments
Kelheim
The Befreiungshalle, or Hall of Liberation, is a massive rotunda on the Michelsberg hill above Kelheim in Lower Bavaria, where the Altmühl River meets the Danube. King Ludwig I built it to celebrate the victories over Napoleon in the Wars…
Monuments
Bremen
The Town Musicians of Bremen statue by Gerhard Marcks is the city's most photographed landmark: a bronze donkey, dog, cat and rooster stacked on top of each other beside Bremen's Town Hall, just off the Market Square. Inspired by the Broth…
Monuments
Koblenz
The Deutsches Eck (German Corner) in Koblenz is the headland where the Moselle River flows into the Rhine, and one of Germany's most recognizable landmarks. A colossal equestrian statue of Emperor William I towers over the tip, while Ehren…
Monuments
Porta Westfalica
Where the River Weser squeezes between the Wiehen Hills and the Weser Hills, a stone canopy topped by an imperial crown stands high on the slope, sheltering a bronze emperor with his hand raised. The Kaiser Wilhelm Monument at Porta Westfa…
Monuments
Chemnitz
Locals affectionately call it the "Nischel", a central German word for head or skull. In the middle of the city centre, Karl Marx gazes over Brückenstraße as a 7.1-metre bronze head; with its plinth the monument stands over 13 metres tall…
Monuments
Kyffhäuserland
The Kyffhäuser Monument (Kyffhäuserdenkmal) in northern Thuringia is one of Germany's largest national monuments, an 81-meter (266-foot) sandstone tower on a forested ridge above the Golden Meadow plain. It links the medieval legend of Emp…
Monuments
Laboe
The Laboe Naval Memorial (Marine-Ehrenmal Laboe) is a memorial to sailors of all nations lost at sea and, with its 72-meter (236-foot) brick tower, the landmark of the Kiel Fjord. From the viewing platform you look out over the Baltic Sea,…
Monuments
Berlin
At the end of a long axis, a bronze soldier stands on an artificial burial mound. He carries a child on his left arm and with the lowered sword in his right hand shatters a swastika. The Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park is both monume…
Monuments
Donaustauf
The Walhalla near Donaustauf, just east of Regensburg, is a hall of fame built in the form of a Greek temple, high above the Danube River. King Ludwig I of Bavaria created it to honor great figures of the German-speaking world, and today m…
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Niederwald Monument, the Town Musicians of Bremen and the grounds of the Hermann Monument. Viewing platforms and museums charge.
91 metres. Entry costs €12, reduced €10, including the FORUM 1813 museum; children up to 6 go free.
The Town Musicians of Bremen, the Hermann Monument with the Hermanneum, the Battle of the Nations monument with its viewing platform and the Laboe Naval Memorial.
Updated: · Opening hours and prices can change — check the attraction page before you go.