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Braunschweig
Stadt Braunschweig Niedersachsen Schloßplatz
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Quadriga, Otto IV, Otto das Kind und Heinrich der LöeQuadriga, Otto IV, Otto the Child, and Henry the Lion |
Gustav Bläser & Ernst Rietschel
1868 |
The original residence palace was built from 1833 to 1841 to the design of architect Carl Theodor Ottmer. In 1855, a quadriga designed by Ernst Rietschel was placed on the portico. A fire 1865 destroyed the north wing and the north-western part of the main building. The quadriga was also destroyed. Master builder Carl Wolf reconstructed the palace building with the help of Constantin Uhde until 1868, returning the quadriga to its original location in a slightly smaller form. Also dating from 1868 is the group of figures with Henry the Lion in the pediment and both statues of Otto the Child and Otto IV next to it.
During the Second World War, the palace was severely damaged several times during Allied bombing raids. The quadriga survived the war almost intact, but was only destroyed by non-ferrous metal thieves after the end of the war. Despite many protests from the population, the city council decided by a very small majority in 1959 to demolish the palace. By the end of 1960, demolition was complete. The pediment figures and the statues came into storage, but the remains of the quadriga were demolished.
In 2004, the city council of Braunschweig decided by a majority vote to sell the palace site to the Hamburg investor ECE Projektmanagement. The aim was to build a shopping centre, the 'Schloss-Arkaden' and a to reconstruct the façade of the Ottmer building to a large extent using the original stones and to create rooms for cultural use as part of the new palace building. As part of the reconstruction , the Quadriga was created for the third time between on the basis of an original 1:3 scale model by Rietschel. It was erected on the central section of the new palace on 23 October 2008. The fronton and the statue has survived the war and the demolition.
Designed by Ernst Rietschel, 1855/1868, replica from 2008
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Brunonia, the allegorical patron saint of Duke Wilhelm (1806-1884), the duchy and the city of Braunschweig, stands in an antique, two-wheeled chariot and drives a team of four horses (the quadriga), holding the reins with her left hand and a staff of honour with her right, at the top of which is a laurel-wreathed 'W' for Duke Wilhelm.
Sculpted by Gustav Bläser, 1868.
 Heinrich der Löwe (Henry the Lion) (1129-1195) (Wikipedia), founder of Braunschweig cathedral, with two warriors, a monk, a bishop and a farmer from the time of the settlement of the Wendenland around 1170. |
 Otto IV. (Braunschweig? c. 1175 - Harzburg 1218), king of Germany 1198, Holy Roman Emperor 1209-1218, son of Henry the Lion (Wikipedia). |
 Otto I. das Kind / Otto the Child (1204 - Lüneburg 1252), first duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, 1235-1252 (Wikipedia). |
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