Nagelsäule

The Nagelsäule stands on Liebfrauenplatz in Mainz, east of Mainz Cathedral, as a First World War monument. Its oak trunks carry the marks of a wartime fundraising campaign. Donors hammered nails into the wood, turning individual contributions into a visible charitable record. The campaign supported war children and soldiers’ wives.

Adolf Gelius and Ludwig Lipp created the selected design after a competition organised by Mayor Karl Göttelmann. The city inaugurated the monument during the First World War. Three limestone pillars surround its oak core and represent charity, bravery and unity. Its barrel-like form gives the timber structure a distinctive silhouette.

A protective coating covers the preserved nails. Weather damage led to restoration work, which preserved the wood and placed the monument within a stainless-steel support. The restored structure suspends the oak monument above Liebfrauenplatz. The Nagelsäule connects Mainz’s public space with a difficult chapter of German history and wartime civic fundraising. Its nails make that history visible in oak. The monument also records the work of Adolf Gelius and Ludwig Lipp in Mainz. The limestone pillars frame a material reminder of collective donations during wartime.