Gooseies

Gänseliesel is the name for a female figure in connection with domestic geese . Liesel is a short form of the female first name Elisabeth .

The figure of the Gänseliesel was often thematized by artists in the form of paintings or sculptures . As a decorative element of buildings and fountains , reliefs or statues can be found in many places that show a goose girl. Often these are depictions of everyday situations in which maids or girls tend the geese or bring them to the market.

Feeding by a "Gänseliesel" in Brandenburg (2008)

Fountain figures

The Göttinger Gänseliesel

The original Göttinger Gänseliesel (goose girl) by Paul Nisse (bronze, 1901), now in the Städtisches Museum

The Gänseliesel in front of the old town hall has been a fountain decoration and has been the landmark of the university town of Göttingen since 1901 . The bronze figure was created by the sculptor Paul Nisse based on a design by the architect Heinrich Stöckhardt . It has been a copy since 1990, while the original is in the City Museum .

The Gänseliesel from Monheim am Rhein

Since 1939, the city of Monheim am Rhein has had a Gänseliesel in its coat of arms, which was designed by heraldist Wolfgang Pagenstecher in 1791 based on the model of the seal of District Bailiff Johann Wilhelm Aschenbroich. In the city center in front of the Rathaus-Center there is a Gänseliesel fountain with two geese spouting water, which was designed in bronze by the Düsseldorf sculptor Julius Haigis in 1937 . Every year since 1955, a goose loaf and the legendary character of the minstrel have formed the “traditional couple” of the Rhine community.