Image: Johann II Siegesallee gesamt

Description: Statue in the former Siegesallee in Berlin commemorating the Coregent Margrave of Brandenburg Johann II (ca. 1237–1281), son of margrave Johann I. Sculptor: Reinhold Felderhoff. Statue unveiled on 14 November 1900. While the inclusion in the Siegesallee of the last Ascanian ruler Henry II (the Child), who was of virtually no importance for the history of Brandenburg, was controversial and ultimately based solely on the need to maintain symmetry, with 16 sculptural groups on each side of the monumental boulevard, we have no information about the considerations that led to the inclusion of the Coregent Johann II, who was likewise rather insignificant. The sculptor Felderhoff had a free hand, since no images of the ruler were preserved. The only physical characterization of Johann II (in the chronicle of Brandenburg's rulers) described him as small in stature, energetic and powerful, but this could not be taken into consideration, because the statues were required to have a uniform height. Felderhoff broke with the prevailing pattern by virtue of eschewing the customary historicizing approach and choosing an (almost modern) flat-featured, typifying form. He was the only Siegesallee sculptor who dispensed with individualizing the figure, instead creating a prototypical warrior who gazes down with a calm, serious expression. The sculpture shows Johann II leaning on a large shield with the coat of arms of the house of Ballenstedt, since Esico von Ballenstedt is regarded as the founder of the Ascanian dynasty.
Title: Johann II Siegesallee gesamt
Credit: Uta Lehnert: Der Kaiser und die Siegesallee. Réclame Royale. Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-496-01189-0, page 116
Author: Reinhold Felderhoff (sculptor)
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No