DOI issue:
No. 81 (December, 1899)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19783#0226
Studio- Talk
detail of the bismarck monument
by josef flossmann
most favoured spot in the neighbourhood of
Munich. From the site of the memorial one has
a fine view of the lake with all its charm and gran-
deur, the gently sloping shores, with pretty hamlets
and villas peeping out and brightly reflected in
the vast expanse of water, and the rich green
meadows and the darker-tinted forest behind. The
monument itself is admirably suited to its environ-
ment of exquisite scenery. Rising noble, yet
slender, by no means colossal, but grand and im-
pressive in its proportions, this simple memorial
gives admirable expression of the nature of the
man in whose honour it has been designed, the
man of whom John Lothrop Motley said he " had
never known a great man who was so free from all
bombastic and theatrical features."
The monument does not contain a bust ot
Bismarck, which, moreover, would be lost in the
open air. An iron tablet records his greatest
achievement, the unification of Germany, and this,
his life work, is represented in the great reliefs
which, carved out of the blocks of the monument,
adorn the side of the tower. In the same manner
fountain, or a walk, as though he were a
portrait-painter endeavouring to give life
to the human features. Moreover, his
technique is very simple—so simple, so
sincere and so independent of outside in-
fluence, impressionist or otherwise, that
one forgets, while looking at these pic-
tures, to inquire how they were done.
Instead, one is fascinated by the indefin-
able charm springing from these adorable
gardens with their close-trimmed hedges,
their sunny vistas, their fountains and
their leafy retreats, which the eye peoples
instinctively with the ghosts of those who
trod these paths in the long ago. None
but a true artist could captivate our
senses in this fashion.
G. M.
MUNICH.—The Bismarck
memorial erected at the
Starnberger See by the
Munich admirers of the
great statesman was
solemnly unveiled last summer. The
monument has been placed at one of the
most beautiful points on this delightful
lake, which is the most frequented and details of the bismarck monument by josef flossmann
203
detail of the bismarck monument
by josef flossmann
most favoured spot in the neighbourhood of
Munich. From the site of the memorial one has
a fine view of the lake with all its charm and gran-
deur, the gently sloping shores, with pretty hamlets
and villas peeping out and brightly reflected in
the vast expanse of water, and the rich green
meadows and the darker-tinted forest behind. The
monument itself is admirably suited to its environ-
ment of exquisite scenery. Rising noble, yet
slender, by no means colossal, but grand and im-
pressive in its proportions, this simple memorial
gives admirable expression of the nature of the
man in whose honour it has been designed, the
man of whom John Lothrop Motley said he " had
never known a great man who was so free from all
bombastic and theatrical features."
The monument does not contain a bust ot
Bismarck, which, moreover, would be lost in the
open air. An iron tablet records his greatest
achievement, the unification of Germany, and this,
his life work, is represented in the great reliefs
which, carved out of the blocks of the monument,
adorn the side of the tower. In the same manner
fountain, or a walk, as though he were a
portrait-painter endeavouring to give life
to the human features. Moreover, his
technique is very simple—so simple, so
sincere and so independent of outside in-
fluence, impressionist or otherwise, that
one forgets, while looking at these pic-
tures, to inquire how they were done.
Instead, one is fascinated by the indefin-
able charm springing from these adorable
gardens with their close-trimmed hedges,
their sunny vistas, their fountains and
their leafy retreats, which the eye peoples
instinctively with the ghosts of those who
trod these paths in the long ago. None
but a true artist could captivate our
senses in this fashion.
G. M.
MUNICH.—The Bismarck
memorial erected at the
Starnberger See by the
Munich admirers of the
great statesman was
solemnly unveiled last summer. The
monument has been placed at one of the
most beautiful points on this delightful
lake, which is the most frequented and details of the bismarck monument by josef flossmann
203