Sculpture next to Congress Center

When I took the photo of the fountain in front of the Congress Center, I noticed this sculpture next to it, a bit hidden behind bushes though. Unfortunately, I cannot provide any background information since I couldn't find any so far. But I thought it looks a bit ghostly, being hidden like that with the green patina and the dark eyes... Don't you agree?

Wilhelm I von Oranien-Nassau

In Wiesbaden we have two statues of a Wilhelm I. I've already shown you Kaiser Wilhelm I. (1797-1888) a while ago, but this one is Wilhelm I. von Oranien-Nassau (1533-1584). He was also called William the Silent, was born in the House of Nassau and became Prince of Orange (Oranien) in 1544. In the Netherlands, he is also known as the "Vader des vaderlands" (Father of the fatherland) and the Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, was written in his honour.

The reason, why we have his statue here, is that Wiesbaden is part of the former dukedom Nassau. Also, it is said that Wilhelm died for his Lutheran beliefs and the church behind the statue is the Marktkirche (right next to the city hall) which is Lutheran, so to honor him his statue has been set up in front of the church.

To find out more about William the Silent, check out the article at Wikipedia.

Kaiser Wilhelm I

May I introduce: Kaiser Wilhelm I (1797-1888) or actually a statue of him that you can find in the "Kurpark" in Wiesbaden.
He was King of Prussia and later German Emperor (Kaiser) of the German Empire with Otto von Bismarck as his Prime Minister.

Besides all the political and historical things to say about him, I found interesting, what Bismarck had to say in his memoirs. He described Wilhelm as an old-fashioned, courteous, infallibly polite gentleman and a genuine Prussian officer, whose good common sense was occasionally undermined by "female influences". (source: Wikipedia)