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Otto von Bismarck branded ‘coloniser’ as protesters topple statue in Frankfurt
17 November 2024
Germany’s first chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, has been branded a coloniser by protesters who toppled and vandalised a monument dedicated to him in Frankfurt.
Pictures showed the 125-year-old bronze statue lying on the ground in the Höchst district of the city, with red paint sprayed over Bismarck’s face and spiked helmet.
“Coloniser” and “anti-colonial action” were painted over the statue, which police said had been sawn off its plinth before being pushed over on Friday.
The toppling came on the 140th anniversary of the start of the Berlin Conference, which is seen as emblematic of Europe’s 19th century colonisation of Africa.
An unnamed group claimed responsibility, writing on a far-Left website that Bismarck had “initiated a violent conquest and exploitation of the [African] continent, which led to years of systematic exploitation and enslavement”.
“To this day there are countless Bismarck monuments and statues in Germany,” it added. “Even today, he is still remembered positively, although his atrocities are left out.”
The 125-year-old bronze statue was left lying on the ground in the Höchst district of Frankfurt
Frank Grobe, a local state deputy for the hard-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party said that “this is part of the Left-wing extremist Culture War and an attack on our history and identity”.
The editor-in-chief of the Right-wing Junge Freiheit magazine called it “unbelievable destructive rage and anti-German hatred from Left-wing extremists”.
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Otto von Bismarck branded ‘coloniser’ as protesters topple statue in Frankfurt
The 125-year-old bronze statue was left lying on the ground with red paint sprayed across the body, face and helmet
www.telegraph.co.uk
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