Memorial August Neidhardt von Gneisenau

The Gneisenau Monument on Berlins Bebelplatz commemorates August Neidhardt von Gneisenau, a co-architect of the Prussian military reforms and the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon. Christian Daniel Rauch created the larger-than-life bronze figure between 1840 and 1855, showing the field marshal in commanding pose with cloak, a key work of the Berlin School of Sculpture. The monument originally stood directly along the boulevard Unter den Linden, opposite the statues of Bluecher and Scharnhorst; in 1950 GDR urban planning moved it to its current spot near the State Opera. Reliefs on the pedestal show scenes from the Battle of Belle Alliance, today known as Waterloo. Anyone visiting the underground Book Burning Memorial on Bebelplatz walks right past it.