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Memorial of War of Liberation
Das Nationaldenkmal

Berlin's most important war memorial was the Gothic cross Schinkel designed in 1817/18 for the Tempelhofer Berg (subsequently known as Kreuzberg) with figures by Christian Daniel Rauch, Friedrich Tieck, and Ludwig Wichmann. The use of cast iron for this war memorial is especially significant and can be considered as an example of "iron cross-ism." At the beginning of the War of Liberation in 1813 Schinkel had collaborated with Friedrich Wilhelm III on the design of the Iron Cross, one of Prussia's most honorific military medals. In this case the choice of iron was not so much a reflection of developing industry as it was a substitute for precious metals and symbolic of a sacrifice made for the fatherland. That same year the crown had appealed to the wealthy to contribute their jewels to help subsidize the national cause. The iron jewelry which they were issued as a form of receipt often bore a small cross with a head of the king and inscriptions. Between 1813 and 1815 it is estimated that over 11,000 pieces of iron jewelry were produced, including 5,000 iron crosses.

By the time the Kreuzberg monument was designed and executed (1821) not only were the Napoleonic Wars over and prosperity returning to Prussia, but Schinkel was fully engaged in a full range of improvements in and around Berlin.

Berlin, 1981, Kreuzberg War Memorial