Six sculptures and their story

Grande Dame, Brother John and Blonde Hans

Who are the two disputants in the old town? And what is Hans Albers doing in Düsseldorf? As you stroll through the city, you keep coming across personalities cast in bronze. We'll tell you their story.

Johanna "Mother" Ey

Her biography is Hollywood-worthy: drama, love, success and adverse circumstances characterize the life of the Düsseldorf gallery owner, who was the most painted woman in the world in the 1920s. Her friends included famous artists such as Max Ernst, Otto Pankok and Otto Dix. In Düsseldorf, Mother Ey has left numerous traces, including since 2017 as a figure on Mother Ey Square at Andreas Quartier.

Dispute

What may have incited the grim-looking potbelly and the emaciated 68er-to the "confrontation"? Only Karl-Henning Seemann, who created the sculpture in 1978, knows the answer. Situated in the middle of the old town, the work of art virtually invites interaction and has served as a photo motif countless times.

Hoppeditz 

Anyone looking at the statue of Düsseldorf's arch-prankster Hoppeditz in the small green area behind the Haus des Karnevals should bring along some time to discover all the details and hints hidden by sculptor Bert Gerresheim. For example, the base of the figure, erected in 2008, is composed of the faces of well-known jokers such as Charlie Chaplin, Karl Valentin or Donald Duck. Even sinister things like a medieval heretic with his tongue cut out can be recognized.

Johannes Rau

He was called "Brother John" because, as a professing Christian, he lived his faith publicly and always showed compassion. Nevertheless, he was not to be underestimated as a politician, making it from Member of Parliament to parliamentary group leader to Minister President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (1978-1998) and finally becoming the eighth President of the Federal Republic of Germany (1999-2004). His monument, unveiled in 2007, can be found in front of Villa Horion, which was the official residence of NRW's minister presidents from 1961 to 1999.

Hans Albers

Well, what is Hans Albers, the Hamburg boy, doing on Ueckerplatz in the Media Harbor? Jörg Immendorff created the artwork in 1986 for the Hamburg neighborhood. But a few years later, a dispute arose between the artist and the Hamburg Senate, so Immendorff brought the sculpture to Düsseldorf.

Heine Monument

Erected in 1981 to mark the 125th anniversary of Heinrich Heine's death, the monument required police protection at its inauguration because the dismembered depiction of the poet was not well received by everyone. But sculptor Bert Gerresheim, with the help of Achim Spyra (today operator of the KIT Café), had done good research and wanted the sculpture to symbolize Heine's brokenness. Therefore, he created a bronze conundrum face, from which individual parts seem to partially detach and sink.

Title image: Dispute, Düsseldorf Tourism