Violinist and naked nymph Art walk through Bad Godesberg

Bad Godesberg · If you’re walking through town hastily you’ll easily overlook it: As far as art in public space is concerned, the district of Bad Godesberg has a lot to offer.

 Boy at the spring is the name of this sculpture.

Boy at the spring is the name of this sculpture.

Foto: Niklas Schröder

In Bad Godesberg, works of art can be discovered that may remain hidden to the person passing by on his daily way to work. Yet there are many a jewel to be discovered between Kurfürstenallee and the banks of the Rhine on a journey through Alt-Bad Godesberg and the villa district.

At the music school in Kurfürstenallee, three bronze sculptures at the entrance to the building recreate an almost everyday scene. The "Violinist with Wife and Child" was designed by Christiane Opiela (1941-2009) and placed in front of the music school in 1992.

If one follows the avenue in the direction of the House of the Redoute, a work of art from the Orient can be made out on the right side: The Hittite Sun Disk. The sculpture is a monumental replica of a Hittite copper standard excavated in Alaca Höyük/Turkey in 1935. It was created by artist Metin Yurdanur and was a gift from Turkey to the Federal City of Bonn on the occasion of the 2000-year celebration. The sculpture is decorated with religious symbols, it is supported by two horns and the outer edge is decorated with eleven flowers.

In front of the Redoute house a well-known landmark can be made out: The Godesberg Nymph. The nymph was created in 1912 by the sculptor Georg Kolbe (1877-1947) and was a gift from the Karl von Heydt family to the city of Godesberg. It stood at the mouth of the Godesberger Bach from 1912 to 1949 and was erected at the Redoute in 1988.

Continue to the right into the street Am Kurpark. In the section of the Kurpark on the right, the "Boy at the Spring" is located on rocks. The sculpture was created by Naoum Aronson (1872-1943) and donated by the Wendelstadt family to the Godesberg community in 1905. The fountain is sponsored by the Verein für Heimatpflege und Heimatgeschichte Bad Godesberg.

To get to the next station, the walker passes the crosswalk into the alley Am Michaelshof. At the corner of Theaterplatz/ Michaelshof it comes then to the "encounter". The bronze sculpture of Brutalism at the Ledigenheim of the Reutersiedlung was erected in 1952 on the Theaterplatz, corner Michaelshof. The public commissioning practice was controversial at the time. Artist: Eva de Maizière. Location: corner of Theaterplatz and Michaelshof.

On Michaelplatz, the stairway fountain by Gottfried Böhm climbs the red steps on the left side. It was inaugurated in 1980 at the entrance to what was then the Altstadtcenter. Its shape is reminiscent of an artificial stream, which is said to be about five metres long and made of basalt lava and brick.

The path continues through the Theaterplatz to the Alte Bahnhofstraße. At the level of the Epi-Boulangerie, a special fountain figure can be seen here: five young people stand with open arms around a globe. The work of art "Youth as guardians of the world" was created by the Bonn painter and sculptor Heinz Feuerborn (1930-2018) and installed at that location in 2003.

The walk now follows the underpass in the direction of Rheinallee. The road through the villa district now stretches for a few hundred metres before turning right into Otto-Kühne-Platz. It is hard to miss the nine picture banners on the gymnasium of the Otto-Kühne School in the side street. Since the beginning of the school year, they have been displaying "brand-new and very expressive" student works from various grades. A competition on the subject of sports and movement was held in the art and crafts department. A successful work of art has now been created from these works. Installation: 2021, location: Otto-Kühne-Platz 2.

Back in Rheinallee, follow the course of the street in the direction of the banks of the Rhine. Arriving at the landing stage of the Godesberg ferry, the walker is presented with a work of art created by nature: the Siebengebirge. A plaque, which is embedded in the direction of the river at the Von-Sandt-Ufer, forms the final point of the art walk. The plaque was donated in 2008 by the Verein für Heimatpflege und Heimatgeschichte Bad Godesberg (VHH) and designed by Reinhard Pfotenhauer. It lists the various hills of the Siebengebirge.

Original text: Niklas Schröder

Translation: Mareike Graepel

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