platform under the statue. Historical significance During the Battle of Berlin of 1945, Soviet troops nicknamed the column "the Tall Woman". Polish Army troops, fighting alongside their Soviet allies, hoisted the Polish flag on the column on 2 May 1945 at the end of the Battle in Berlin. During the allied victory parade in 1945, the French tricolour was raised atop the column on the statue by French troops. It served as the location for Barack Obama's speech in Berlin as a US presidential candidate during his visit to Germany on 24 July 2008. In popular culture The golden statue atop the column, cast in 1873 by the Aktien-Gesellschaft Gladenbeck foundry in Berlin, was featured in the music video to U2's 1993 "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)". In Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire (1987), the column is one of many such high places in the city where angels sit and look down. During the years of the techno Love Parade, the column was a meeting point where large numbers of people danced together. The Berlin queer monthly magazine Siegessäule was named after the monument, founded 1984 as a gay publication. The Berlin Pride (CSD parade) usually includes the column on its route for the symbolism. The monument is one of the many landmarks visited in the "Berlin Byways" course in Mario Kart Tour (since 2021), and later Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (since 2022). References External links 1873 sculptures Buildings and structures in Mitte Monumental columns in Germany Monuments and memorials in Berlin Terminating vistas in Germany Victory monuments Tiergarten (park) Sculptures of Victoria (mythology) 1873 establishments in Germany