Victory frozen in stone, that’s the Waterloo Column for you. It commemorates the Battle of Waterloo. The column is in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony. Have you ever wondered how this monument came to be?
Construction spanned from 1825 to 1832. Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves, the Hanover court architect since 1814, designed it. The Waterloo Column celebrates the victory. But it also honors the fallen Hanoverian soldiers. Their names are listed on the column’s base.
These troops fought for King George III. He ruled the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Hanover. It was a personal union. The final concept celebrated the state’s victory and its monarch.
The Waterloo Column stands 46.31 meters tall. That is over 150 feet. The diameter is 3.75 meters or about 12 feet. The base displays names of fallen soldiers. They were from regiments named after towns in the Kingdom of Hanover. The inscription reads: “To the victors of Waterloo, from the thankful fatherland.” 876 fallen soldiers are named.
At the top of the Waterloo Column stands the goddess Victoria. August Hengst designed this copper and iron statue. It is 4.55 meters tall. That is almost 15 feet. Conrad Beckmann’s workshop created it.
Eight barrels of captured field cannons are in the Waterloo Column’s base. They stand vertically. Inside, a spiral staircase leads to an observation platform. There are 189 steps. You can visit the platform but only on certain days.
Many soldiers in the King’s German Legion were from Hanover. King George III created this legion. This was due to Napoleon’s invasion of Hanover in 1803. New recruits arrived in Britain to resist French occupation. The occupiers had made Hanover part of the Kingdom of Westphalia. The legion was specifically for German troops.
The Battle of Waterloo took place on June 18, 1815. Napoleon’s France fought against a coalition. Hanover, the Duchy of Brunswick, Prussia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the Duchy of Nassau were all involved.
Civic support for a memorial honoring Hanover’s dead emerged by 1816. Funding issues stalled the project. Eventually, the state picked it up. In 1818, the Hanoverian Monument was constructed near the Lion’s Mound in Belgium. It commemorates soldiers of the King’s German Legion. It was on the battlefield of Waterloo.
During World War II, the Waterloo Column remained standing. The surrounding area was heavily bombed. Cambridge University Library noted that “the column survived intact.” It bore witness to an earlier era. A coalition of powers united against expansionist militarism. This was like the Allied unity against Germany during World War II.
In 1965, Queen Elizabeth II planned to lay a wreath at the Waterloo Column. West Germany was less comfortable with military heroism after World War II. The wreath-laying was called off to not offend France.
In 2014, someone placed a German flag on the Victoria statue. This likely honored Germany’s team in the 2014 World Cup. Waterloo Square has hosted large viewing parties for sporting events.
The city recognizes the Waterloo Column as an important cultural landmark. The column has required funding for renovations. Unintentionally harmful conservation work happened in 1985. In 2019, Hanover approved payment for renovations. Since Christmas 2024, the Waterloo Column has been illuminated at night. The Waterloo Column stands tall. It is a symbol of victory, remembrance, and Hanover’s rich history.