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{{about|the personification of [[Berlin]]|the asteroid|422 Berolina|the fairy chess piece|Berolina pawn||Berlin (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Berlin Alexanderplatz Berolina.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Berolina statue in Alexanderplatz, {{circa|1900}}]]
'''Berolina''' is the female personification{{refn|The traditional [[Latin]] name of Berlin is the neuter ''Berolinum''.|group=note}} of [[Berlin]] and the [[Allegory|allegorical]] female figure symbolizing the city. One of the best-known portraits of Berolina is the statue that once stood in [[Alexanderplatz]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bildhauerei-in-berlin.de/_html/_katalog/_details.php?id=1324 |title=Bildhauerei in Berlin - Katalog |publisher=Bildhauerei-in-berlin.de |accessdate=2012-02-11 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605190342/http://www.bildhauerei-in-berlin.de/_html/_katalog/_details.php?id=1324 |archivedate=2012-06-05 }}</ref>

==Statue==
[[File:Berlin Heimkehr d Heeres 16-06-1871 (H Scherenberg IZ 57).jpg|thumb|First Berolina statue in Belle-Alliance-Platz, 1871]]
In 1871, emperor [[William I, German Emperor|William I]] ordered an {{convert|11|m|ft|abbr=on}} Berolina statue in Belle-Alliance-Platz (today's [[Mehringplatz]]), to glorify the homecoming victorious troops of the [[Franco-Prussian War]].<ref name=a>{{cite web |url=http://www.berolina-standbild.de/historie/index.html |title=Historie |publisher=Berolina-standbild.de |date= |accessdate=2012-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426065607/http://www.berolina-standbild.de/historie/index.html |archive-date=2012-04-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

Another statue was designed in 1889 by the sculptors {{ill|Emil Hundrieser|de}} (1846–1911) and [[Michel Lock]] (1848–1898) as a decorative element for the state visit of King [[Umberto I of Italy]].<ref name=a /> The Berolina figure was produced in plaster and was placed on [[Potsdamer Platz]]. The statue of {{convert|7.55|m|ft|abbr=on}} showed a woman with a [[oak leaf cluster|crown of oak leaves]]. The inspiration allegedly was from a painting in the {{lang|de|[[Rotes Rathaus]]}} city hall that featured cobbler's daughter Anna Sasse. 

Later, in 1895, the gypsum figure by Hundrieser was copper-melted and unveiled in Alexanderplatz on December 17. Weighing five tonnes, it was placed in front of the site where [[Hermann Tietz]] erected his department store in 1904. 
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R94716, Berlin, die "Berolina" auf dem Alexanderplatz.jpg|thumb|Berolina in 1937, on the right [[Berlin Alexanderplatz station|Alexanderplatz station]]]]
The statue was damaged in the barricade fights of the [[German Revolution of 1918–19]]. It had to be removed during the construction of the [[U5 (Berlin U-Bahn)|U5]] underground line in 1927, but was set up again in 1933. The nearby {{lang|de|Berolinahaus}}, built in 1929–32 according to plans by [[Peter Behrens]], was named after the statue. Finally dismantled on 26 August 1942, it was probably melted down in 1944 for war purposes.<ref name=a /> A model is preserved at the [[Märkisches Museum]].

In 2000, an association named {{lang|de|Wiedererstellung und Pflege der Berolina e.V.}} ('Recreation and Maintenance of Berolina eV') was created with the aim to rebuild the statue.<ref>{{cite web|author=Alexander Glintschert |url=http://www.anderes-berlin.de/html/berolina.html |title=Berolina |publisher=Anderes-berlin.de |date= |accessdate=2012-02-11}}</ref>

==Name==
Many Berliner companies are named "Berolina". A leading German film studio of the 1950s was called [[Berolina Film]]. In the past, there were several radio and television broadcasts in which references were made to the city's [[personification]]. Today, it is the popular name of central [[Berlin Police]] radio. A [[housing cooperative]] also bears the Berolina name.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://berolina.info/ |publisher=Berolina WohnungsbauGenossenschaft |access-date=28 January 2025|title=BEROLINA}}</ref>

In 1980s, the "Berolina" music awards were organized, sponsored by the TV networks [[ARD (broadcaster)|ARD]], [[ZDF]] and [[ORF (broadcaster)|ORF]], and hosted on television by [[Thomas Gottschalk]] on 27 August 1987 with a total of 15 musicians and bands.<ref name=a />

Several songs, poems, and plays are named "Berolina"; as for example, works by [[Kurt Tucholsky]],<ref>{{in lang|de}} [http://www.trafff.de/IGEL-Dateien/14_BEROLINA.pdf ''Berolina'' by Kurt Tucholsky]</ref> [[Günter Neumann (singer)|Günter Neumann]], [[Ulli Herzog]], and [[Alexander von Bentheim]].

The [[Asteroid belt|Main belt]] asteroid [[422 Berolina]], is also named after the city.

==Photogallery==
<gallery class="center" caption="" widths="160" heights="200px">
File:1889 Berolina.jpg|Berolina in Potsdamer Platz, 1889
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R75280, Berlin, "Berolina" am Alexanderplatz.jpg|Berolina in Alexanderplatz, 1900
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J03164, Berlin, Abtragen der Berolina-Statue.jpg|The statue in 1942
File:Berlin, Hausvogteiplatz, Tanzende Berolina von Axel Anklam.jpg|''Dancing Berolina'',  sculpture of [[Axel Anklam]], in [[Hausvogteiplatz]] (2004)
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Bavaria statue|Bavaria]], personification of the Land of [[Bavaria]]
* [[Berlino]], mascot for the 2009 World Championships in athletics
* [[Berolina (train)|''Berolina'' (train)]], which ran between Warsaw and Berlin
* [[Deutscher Michel]], personification of [[German people]]
* [[Flag of Berlin|Flag]] and [[Coat of arms of Berlin|Coat of Arms]] of Berlin
* [[Germania (personification)|Germania]], national personification of [[Germany]]
* [[Hammonia]], personification of [[Hamburg]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Berolina}}
*{{in lang|de}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20120426065333/http://www.berolina-standbild.de/index.html Berolina Statue website]
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1918/08/03/archives/to-melt-berolina-statue-germans-disappointed-at-small-copper-supply.html An article] of [[The New York Times]]

{{coord missing|Berlin}}

[[Category:Culture in Berlin]]
[[Category:History of Berlin]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Mitte]]
[[Category:Civic personifications]]