Germany
Germany has at least 67 remaining equestrian statues, although many earlier ones were destroyed during and after World War II. Only 15 equestrian statues of Wilhelm I remain out of the original 65. Most of the statues are rather mediocre and some of them really exemplify Teutonic megalomania. Apart from the statues, Germany has some beautiful equestrian sculptures, thanks to sculptors such as Kiss and Tuaillon.
The Holy Roman Empire is important in the history of Germany; the medieval German state having Otto I as its first emperor. Dukes and princes of the empire, however, gained power at the expense of the emperors. Powerful rulers in the twelfth century include Frederick I (Barbarossa) of the Hohenzollern dynasty and Otto von Wittelsbach, founder of the Wittelsbach dynasty that ruled Bavaria until 1918. During his reign (from 1493 to 1519), Maximilian I tried to reform the empire, but his attempts were frustrated by its continued territorial fragmentation.
The Protestant Reformation initiated by Martin Luther in 1517, led to a clash between the Protestant northern states and the Catholic southern states, in what is known as the Thirty Years’ War. The year 1648 not only marked the end of this war, but also effectively the end of the Holy Roman Empire, which was formally dissolved in 1806. It was also the beginning of the modern nation-state system, with Germany divided into numerous independent states, such as Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony. Prussia, with its capital Berlin, grew in strength. Unification was achieved with the formation of the German Empire in 1871, with 25 states under the leadership of Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and with Wilhelm I as its first emperor.
Almost half of all the equestrian statues in Germany represent members of the House of Hohenzollern, a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania.