obelisk - Kleve, Germany
Posted by: 
PetjeOp
N 51° 47.678 E 006° 07.392
32U E 301623 N 5742112
On top of the Sternberg overseeing the Forstgarden stands an obelisk
Waymark Code: WM15AQ1
Location: Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Date Posted: 11/24/2021
Views: 3
The obelisk with the copper button
On the edge of the hillside of the Springenberg there is an obelisk in the axis of the baroque garden, on its top there is a copper sphere, on top of which is an eagle with outstretched wings. This obelisk doesn't go back to the garden that Prince Moritz created, but it's now part of the whole. Land surveyors have long used it as a measuring point like the sphere on the church tower opposite St. Vitus. It probably owes its existence even to a corresponding original use: When Austria administered the Klever Land during the 7 Years War (in the hope of being able to incorporate it after an advantageous outcome of the war), a first obelisk with a gold-plated ball on its tip was created. He can still be seen in a picture painted by Rousseau in 1791, at that time towering far above the tops of the neighboring trees. Because one had the most beautiful view of the Rhine plain from here, the square retained the name "Golden Button" even after the partial destruction of the gardens in 1794.
King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Must have liked the place during his visit in 1845, when there was still a granite plinth to sit on. The Finance Minister informed the authorities in Kleve of the result of a cabinet order in which the garden was also to be restored: ".... that the King's Majesty ....... the erection of an obelisk on the hill 'Zum Goldenen Knopf' behind have deigned to approve the intended amphitheater ". There is a sketch by the king on the side of a draft submitted to him, with the wish that it should be made according to the Roman pattern "... and the golden button must not be missing on the same." Made of sandstone blocks, the painting was completed in 1757 with the eagle on the ball. In 1872 a marble plaque was set into the base of the obelisk in honor of those who died in 70/71.
In 1945 the eagle was shot down by British soldiers, but a few years later it was reattached in a slightly different form.
Height: about 20 meters
Website: [Web Link]
Date Created/Placed: Not listed
Address: Not listed
Illuminated: Not Listed
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