ZITADELLE SPANDAU
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Citadel with museums depicting the history of Spandau and its fortress through memorials and statues.
Spandau Citadel is the only Renaissance fortress preserved in Germany today. Inside there is even a tower (the Juliusturm) and a building (the Palas) dating from the 13th century. At the confluence of the Spree and Havel rivers, it is a strategic location that the Elector Princes of Brandenburg, Joachim II and later Johann Georg, decided to have fortified. And it was in the second half of the 16th century that it took its present form, with its four red brick bastions. Today it is a place that no longer has any military function and is entirely dedicated to culture. There are several museums and exhibitions, especially for history buffs.
Two museums, in the Kommandentenhaus and the Zeughaus, trace the history of Spandau (which was an independent municipality until 1920) and its fortress.
The most original and interesting exhibition is in the Proviantmagazin, in the eastern part of the citadel. It shows numerous memorials and statues that have been dismantled and removed from Berlin's public space. These include the head of Lenin (whose statue once stood in the middle of East Berlin) and the statues of the Hohenzollern family, who made up the Siegesallee (Victory Alley) of the Tiergarten. Interactive maps show the location of these ancient monuments in the city. This exhibition will make us reflect on the relationship between collective memory, public space and the legitimisation of power.
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