Germania (personification)

For other uses, see Germania.

Painting by Philipp Veit, 1848. This image was once covered the old organ inside the Paulskirche, above where the Frankfurt Parliament assembled from 1848 to 1849.

Germania is the personification of the German nation or the Germans as a whole, most commonly associated with the Romantic Era and the Revolutions of 1848, though the figure was later used by Imperial Germany.

Description

Germania is usually shown as a robust woman with long, flowing, reddish-blonde hair and wearing armour. She often wields the "Reichsschwert" (imperial sword), and possesses a mediaeval-style shield that sometimes bears the image of a black eagle on a gold field. Additionally, she is sometimes shown as carrying or wearing the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire.

In pre-1871 images, the banner she holds is the black-red-gold flag of modern Germany, but in post-1871 depictions it is the black-white-red flag of the German Empire.

Meanings of some symbols

Attribute	Significance
Broken chains	Being freed
Breastplate with eagle	Symbol of the German empire - strength
Crown of oak leaves	Heroism
Sword	Symbol of power
Hemp branch around the sword	Willingness to make peace
Black, red and gold tricolour	Flag of the liberal-nationalists in 1848; banned by dukes of the German states
Rays of the rising sun	Beginning of a new era

Gallery

• 

  Italia and Germania by Johann Friedrich Overbeck, 1828

• 

  Fresco by Philipp Veit, 1834–36. She is holding a shield with the German Confederation's arms. The smaller shields are the arms of the seven original Electors of the Holy Roman Empire.

• 

  Germania Awakening by Christian Köhler, 1849

• 

  Germania at the Watch on the Rhine by Hermann Wislicenus, 1873

• 

  Statue by Johannes Schilling, 1877-83, part of the Niederwalddenkmal near Rüdesheim am Rhein

• 

  Statue from Bismarck Memorial in Berlin, 1901

• 

  Germany 1914, by Friedrich August von Kaulbach

References

• Lionel Gossman. “Making of a Romantic Icon: The Religious Context of Friedrich Overbeck’s ‘Italia und Germania.’” American Philosophical Society, 2007. ISBN 0-87169-975-3.
• Germania Briefmarken (German)

See also

• Flag and Coat of Arms of Germany
• Deutscher Michel, personification of the German people
• Bavaria, personification of the Land of Bavaria
• Berolina, personification of Berlin
• Hammonia, personification of Hamburg
• Hetalia Axis Powers, a manga and anime series where a male, moefied Germany as a main character.