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IPTC: Byline
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IPTC: Caption
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Private First Class Lawrence W. Bartlett (1924-1985), Niagara Falls, New York, examines the four fallen lions which once adorned the top of the Siegestor, built by King Ludwig I, in 1844-1852 in tribute to the Bavarian Army.
The Siegestor (Victory Gate) in Munich, is a three-arched triumphal arch crowned with a statue of Bavaria with a lion-quadriga, similar in style to the Arch of Constantine in Rome, the Marble Arch in London, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin. It is located between the university and the Ohmstra§e, on the intersection of the Leopoldstra§e and the Ludwigstra§e. Therefore it divides the two Munich districts of Maxvorstadt and Schwabing.
The gate was commissioned by King Ludwig I of Bavaria, designed by Friedrich von Grtner and completed in 1852. The quadriga was created by Martin Wagner. The gate was originally dedicated to the glory of the Bavarian army (dem bayerischen Heere zum Ruhme). Today the Siegestor is a monument and reminder to peace. After sustaining heavy damage in World War II, the gate was - similar to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedchtniskirche in Berlin - reconstructed and restored only partially. The inscription on the back side is by Wilhelm Hausenstein and reads Dem Sieg geweiht, vom Krieg zerstrt, zum Frieden mahnend, which translates as "Dedicated to victory, destroyed by war, reminding of peace". In the last couple of years, the statues that remained were meticulously cleaned and restored.
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