Rbb2010

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Background and general Information

The „Sculptures Boulevard” was a central feature of the “Germany Initiative”, to convey a positive image of Germany, the “Country of ideas”, nationally and to foreign countries. This was supported by the sponsorship of the Federal president Horst Köhler, as collective Image and location initiatives of the German Federal Government and the German economy, which is represented through the federal association of the German Industry.

The corporate design of the campaign such as the design of the plastic was conceived and implemented by the Berlin Designer agency Scholz and Friends Identify. The agency was repeatedly internationally recognised for this excellent campaign, for example with the in demand EVA Award in 2006. The statues appear in central places of the Berlin city centre such as the Bebelplatz or the Gendarmenmarkt. At the unveiling, a small celebration took place in which politicians, members of the Initiative or representatives of the companies involved gave an opening speech. The first unveiling took place on the 10th March 2006 with the statue “The modern football boot” in the Spreebogenpark, the final was the handover of the statue “Relativity theory” in Lustgarten, on the 19th May in 2006. In the autumn of 2006, the figures were once again dismantled. One statue, The Automotive, went on a journey to Munich, the use or application of the rest of the work is unclear.

The total cost, from the planning to the realization of the sites per figure was between 300,000 and 350,000 Euros (255,000 and 297 GBP.) All of the statues were made out of the modern plastic Neopor®, and their coatings were made from a special lacquer of glistening whitewash. Each statues production time was around 2 months, the final assembly was claimed to have taken up to three days.

On every object on the footpath through the German Research Landscape and Cultural History, there are information tables in German and English, with detailed information about their symbolism.

Assessment 2

Frankfurt was one of the revolutionary movements of the pre-March era (Vormärz). Ludwig Börne was born in the Jewish lane in 1786, and with his satirical works of the ‘Young Germany’ became a leading figure of this revolution. Although the Bundestag (German lower house of the legislative branch) and it’s reputation of making people fear the municipal Authority attempted to ban the political associations and the eliminate the propagation of liberal works, the oppositional groups of the town were prepossessed by the ghosts of the revolutionists after the 1830 July revolutions. The pace of the idealistic zeal was miscarried to the critical act but was radical nevertheless. Despite this, the extensive ineffective event had raw consequences for the civil Elite of Frankfurt, even after a garrison of 2,500 Austrian and Prussian soldiers challenged the city’s sovereignty and abused the Bundestag diplomats the free town henceforth as a liberal nest there.(….)

At the beginning of March 1848 the revolutionary mood was swashed from France and came to Germany. The situation in the whole of Germany was also the same in Frankfurt, the demand for freedom of the press and the freedom of assembly, constitutional equality for all of the citizens, amnesty for those who were arrested because of the political delicts and according to general armament of the people raised. On the 3rd March the Senate admitted to the claims except for the complete emancipation of the Jews. The reform associations of the Mondays challenged the constitutional reform for Frankfurt as well. The electing of the Constituent Assembly was chosen by the citizens and worked towards developing a new constitution as a replacement for the Constitutional complementary acts.

On the 9th March the black-red-gold flag blew above the Federal Palace. On the 31st March the preliminary convention stepped together into a quickly converted Paulskirche. The walls and the windows of the church were decorated with black-red-gold flags, the pulpit was cloaked with a cloth, the organ was blanketed with a broad drape, which showed a fresco of Philipp Veit: Germany with flag and sword, right and left of this each a bay wreath with patriotic verses. In place of the altar a president’s table was constructed.