Victory Column, Berlin

In the middle of Tiergarten Park is the Victory Column. Begun in 1864 and completed in 1873, the column was designed by Henrich Strack to celebrate Prussia’s victory in the Wars of German Unification. Each battle is symbolised in each segment of the column, and victory is shown by the bronze sculpture of Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory, who stands proudly on the top. The columned plinth recounts the story of the founding of the German Empire, and the viewing platform allows you to take in the entire  city. It was built in what's now the Platz der Republik, but Hitler made the statue taller and had it moved to Tiergarten Park as part of his plan to make Berlin a world capital. The column attracted publicity recently when Barack Obama made a speech here in 2008, the year before he began his stint as President.