Torchbearer Column at Masch Lake, Hannover.

“The Torchbearer (Fackelträger) column at the Maschsee in Hanover is a 4.5-metre-tall bronze statue by Hermann Scheuertstuhl, erected on an 18-metre-high pillar. It was placed there in 1937 as part of the Nazi regime’s efforts to develop Hanover as a Gau capital and is located on the north shore of the Maschsee. The statue is sometimes interpreted as a symbol of enlightenment or an Olympic welcome, but it is also linked to the Nazi salute and the Olympic flame. The Maschsee itself is an artificially created lake, planned during the 1930s to reduce unemployment and serve as a propaganda tool.”