Berolina is the New Latin name for Berlin and the allegorical female figure symbolizing the city. One of the best-known portraits of Berolina is the statue that once stood in Alexanderplatz.[1]
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In 1871, emperor William I ordered an 11 m statue in Belle-Alliance-Platz (nowadays Mehringplatz), to glorify the victorious troops of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871).[2]
In 1889, Emil Hundrieser designed a statue of Berolina as a decorative element for the visit of Italian King Umberto I.[2] The figure was produced in plaster and was placed on Potsdamer Platz. The statue of 7.55 m showed a woman with a crown of oak leaves. The model was from a painting of the Red City Hall (Rotes Rathaus) that featured Anna Sasse. Later, in 1895, the figure of Hundrieser was copper-melted and placed in Alexanderplatz. It was dismantled in 1944 and probably meted down for war purposes.[2]
In 2000, an association named "Wiedererstellung und Pflege der Berolina e.V." (Recreation and Maintenance of Berolina eV) was created with the aim to rebuild the statue.[3]
Many Berliner companies are named "Berolina". In the past, there were several radio and television broadcasts in which reference was made the city's personification. Today, it is the popular name of central Berlin Police radio.
In 1980s, the "Berolina" music awards was organized, sponsored by the TV networks ARD, ZDF and ORF, and hosted in a television show by Thomas Gottschalk on 27 August 1987 with a total of 15 musicians and bands.[2]
Several songs, poems, and plays are named "Berolina"; as for example, works by Kurt Tucholsky[4], Günter Neumann, Ulli Herzog, and Alexander von Bentheim.
There is a "Berolina-Haus" at Alexanderplatz. The Main belt asteroid 422 Berolina, is also named after the city in that way.