In ancient Greece and Rome, monuments were used by political or military leaders to create narratives that united their entire civilizations through a historical memory and national identity.
Today, Americans are divided over calls to remove statues erected to honor the victors involved in the Confederate States of America. But the United States is not the only country dealing with the monuments that are mired in controversy. Around the world, there are at least 8 monuments more controversial than the Confederate Statues:
1) The Holocaust Memorial, Berlin
Inaugurated in 2005, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, otherwise called the Holocaust Memorial, was designed to express Germany’s remorse for the Holocaust that left six million Jews dead.
In 2003, it was revealed that Degussa, the company constructing the monument was part of Degesch, the company that delivered Zyklon B, the gas used to murder the Jews at the concentration camps. This horrified the memorial’s trustees, with one stating: “We had to think about the feelings of the victims.” Construction had to be suspended in order to find another company.
2) Columbus Lighthouse, Santo Domingo
The colossal monument in Santo Domingo, a lighthouse which casts cross-shaped laser beams that can be seen for more than 113 kilometers, is believed to contain the remains of Christopher Columbus.
The lighthouse is controversial for two reasons. Firstly, many Dominicans blame Columbus for the extermination of the original indigenous population, the Taino. And secondly, the monument cost the Dominican Republic around $60 million, resulted in the forceful eviction of about 8,000 families to make room for the lighthouse, and took the lives of two demonstrators during the anti-lighthouse protests in 1992.
3) Valley of the Fallen, Madrid
The monument was built by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco to honor and bury over 40,000 people who died in the Spanish Civil War. The Valley has divided the Spaniards due to the horrible atrocities committed by Franco. The symbol of Franco’s fascist regime is compared to something like a Nazi concentration camp because Franco forced the prisoners of war to participate directly in its construction. In 1999, the site was bombed by Maoist anti-fascists.
4) Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo
Many Chinese and Koreans became victims of Japanese brutalities during the colonial period. In 1869, Japan opened the Imperial Shrine of Yasukuni to honor the dead who served the Emperor of Japan during wars from 1867–1951. But Chinese and Koreans say the monument honors 14 Japanese leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals along with the other war dead.
5) Stone of Hope, Washington
The 9-meter statue of Martin Luther King Jr. was criticized for not reflecting King’s humility. The “drum major” inscription on the monument was paraphrased — “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness” — so that it appeared to sound arrogant. In 2011, famous author Maya Angelou argued that the quote was taken from King’s original words at a 1968 sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church. After intense public pressure, the inscription was removed to ensure the memorial’s structural integrity.
6) Statue of Peter the Great, Moscow
Located on an artificially constructed island, the statue features the giant figure of Tsar Peter standing behind the wheel of a frigate and clutching a golden scroll, while smaller ships are seemingly sticking out from under his feet. No wonder the residents are critical of the statue’s bizarre design. Vladimir, who lives in an apartment block opposite the giant statue, says:
“That’s the ugliest statue of the end of the 20th Century. I see it all the time. All the time! Although I don’t notice it as much now: the eye doesn’t see what it doesn’t like! On a bridge opposite the statue, I ask passers-by what they think of the oversized tsar. “It’s disgusting!” one man tells me. “It’s awful,” says a woman, “It’s just too huge. Big doesn’t mean beautiful.”
7) Christ of the Pacific, Lima
The 37-meter statue of Jesus was built by Peru’s former President, Alan Garcia, in 2011. Garcia claims he contributed around $36,000 of his own money toward the statue’s construction. He also mentioned a Brazilian businessman also contributed with $1 million. The secrecy surrounding the financing of the statue has led many Peruvians to view the monument with contempt. Some claim the statue wreaks of cultural imperialism, while others see it as derivative and lacking any creativity.
8) Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota
Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, took up arms against the U.S. government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people. The memorial, commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, has been in progress on privately held land in the Black Hills, South Dakota, since 1948 and is projected to be completed in 2120.
Although half way completed, many Native Americans believe the memorial goes against Crazy Horse’s crusade in 1876 to preserve the sanctity of the Black Hills. They see it as “a violation of the same spirituality that Crazy Horse fought so valiantly to defend.”
