The destroyed city
The Destroyed City ( Dutch De Verwoeste Stad ) is a bronze sculpture by the Belarusian-French sculptor Ossip Zadkine in Rotterdam . It commemorates the bombing of the city by the German air force during the Second World War , in which the center of the city was almost completely destroyed. The 6.5 meter high sculpture depicts a man without a heart in expressive forms and symbolizes the heart of the city of Rotterdam, which was lost during the bombing.
history
According to Zadkine himself, the idea for the sculpture arose during a train ride from Paris to Deurne in the Netherlands , where he wanted to visit a friend, the doctor Hendrik Wiegersma. As the train passed through Rotterdam over the Luchtspoor Viaduct , he saw the city lying in ruins. The work was created between 1951 and 1953 and was unveiled on May 15, 1953 on Plein 1940 , between Leuvehaven and the Maritime Museum .
The city received the work as a gift from the management of De Bijenkorf department store . The then mayor Gerard van Walsum accepted it. One of the conditions of the donation was that the portrait should remain there permanently.
From 2005 the sculpture was restored and during this time it briefly disappeared from its place. On May 14, 2007, its mayor Ivo Opstelten returned the prominent location on Plein 1940 . During his state visit to the Netherlands in October 2007, the German Federal President Horst Köhler laid a wreath here.
In 2007 the monument was given the status of a Rijksmonuments . The sculpture is popularly called "Jan Gat".
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 55 ′ 3.5 ″ N , 4 ° 28 ′ 59 ″ E