The Hobart Cenotaph, also known as the Hobart War Memorial, is the principal war monument in the Australian state of Tasmania. It is located in the state capital on a a small hill overlooking the city and the Derwent River. It is here on National Remembrance Day and honouring veterans of wars in which in which Australia has fought, the main ceremonies and marching processions are held here. On this at dawn, a lone trumpeter always plays what's known as the Last Post, which is a call to arms before the evening dawn.
The 23.3 metre high cenotaph is designed in the Art Deco style, replicating the of a traditional Egyptian obelisk. It stands on a stepped pedestal of bluish sandstone, and the obelisk itself is made of granite. On each side of the cenotaph is a red glass Latin cross, and all the crosses are are illuminated. On the north side lies a bronze laurel wreath. At night the cenotaph is illuminated by spotlights. After the construction of the cenotaph, the area around it was ennobled - a paved alley was laid, along which poplars were planted. In 1926, a double row of cedars connected the cenotaph and the Avenue of Soldiers' Remembrance, but only two trees survive to this day.
The obelisk was originally erected to commemorate Tasmanian soldiers who died during the World War I, but today it commemorates the victims of every military conflicts in which Tasmanian soldiers were involved. In 1925 during the construction of the memorial, a zinc container the names of 522 local soldiers who died in the World War I was placed at the base of the memorial. The inscription on the cenotaph reads, "Lest we forget," with the date "1914 - 1919" below. Although the First World War ended in 1918, to commemorate the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919, it was decided to put this date on the cenotaph. After World War II, the date "1939 - 1945" was added.
