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Free City of Frankfurt

The German city of Frankfurt was a centre of the revolutionary movement of the pre-March era. As a result of his satirical writing, the journalist Ludwig Börne, who was born in the “Judengasse”, the Jewish ghetto of Franfurt in 1786, became a prominent figure of the group “Young Germany” (Junges Deutschland). The German Parliament, as well as the city authorities, who were anxious about their reputation, tried to ban political societies and attempted to stop the circulation of liberal literature. Despite their efforts, the city’s opposition parties became filled with revolutionary spirit- at the very latest after the July Revolution of 1830. The step from idealistic enthusiasm to decisive action, however, failed miserably. […] Even though this turn of events were by and large ineffective, it had chilling consequences for Frankfurt’s intellectual elite. From that point on a garrison of 2500 Austrian and Prussian soldiers was continuously challenging the city’s sovereignty and Frankfurt was denigrated as a liberal nest by the representatives of the German Parliament. […]

In early March 1848, the revolutionary mood that prevailed in France spilled over to Germany. In Frankfurt, just like anywhere else, there were demands for the freedom of the press and of the assembly, as well as for constitutional equality for all citizens, amnesty for those imprisoned for political offences and for the right of the people to take up arms. On March 3, the senate granted all the demands apart from the total emancipation of the Jews. The reformist meeting in the Monday clubs demanded a constitutional reform for Frankfurt. A constituent assembly- elected by all citizens- was to work out a new constitution to replace the Constitution Amendment File.

On March 9, the black-red-gold flag was flying over the “Palais Thurn und Taxis”, which housed the German Parliament. On March 31, the so-called Pre-Parliament met in the Pauluskirche, which had been redecorated in great haste. The church’s walls and windows were decorated with black-red-gold flags, the pulpit was covered in a cloth and the organ was hidden behind a wide curtain that showed a fresco by Philipp Veit: Germania holding flag and sword, flanked by a laurel wreath with patriotic verses. The altar was replaced by the presidential desk.

Backgound and general facts

The "Skulpturenboulevard"(Boulevard of Sculptures) was a central element of the “Initiative Deutschland – Land der Ideen” (Initiative Germany - Country of Ideas). Under the patronage of then Federal President of Germany, Horst Köhler, this initiative, which was a joint project of Germany’s Federal Government and the German economy, represented by “The Voice of German Industry” (Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie, short BDI), aimed to convey a positive image of Germany at home and abroad.

The campaign’s corporate design, as well as the design of the sculptures, was created and realised by the design agency “Scholz and Friends Identify” in Berlin. For this campaign the agency received numerous international awards, for example the highly coveted EVA Award in 2006. The sculptures were put up in central squares in the city centre of Berlin, among them the Bebelplatz or the Gendarmenmarkt. For the unveiling, small celebrations were held at which politicians, members of the initiative or representatives of the businesses involved delivered opening speeches. The first unveiling, where the sculpture “The modern Football Boot” was presented in the Spreebogenpark, took place on March 10, 2006. The final sculpture “Theory of relativity” was presented to the public on May 19, 2006 in the Lustgarten (Pleasure Garden, Berlin). In autumn 2006, the sculptures were removed. One sculpture, “The Automobile”, travelled to Munich, but what happened to the remaining works is unclear.

The overall costs for the project, from the planning stage up to the realisation, amounted to about 300,000 to 350,000 Euros per sculpture. All sculptures were made from the modern synthetic material Neopor® and they were coated with a gleaming special white lacquer. It took about two months to produce one sculpture and the final assembly the sculptures on the squares took up to three days.

Next to each object along the “journey through Germany’s research landscape and cultural history” information boards in German and English that informed the reader about the meaning of each art object were set up.

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