Stones on the border

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Location sketch "stones at the border"

Stones at the border (French: Menhirs de l'Europe ) is the name of a sculpture road along the German-French border on the heights of the Saargau . It forms the Franco-German counterpart to the northern Saarland " Street of Sculptures ".

History of origin

The initiative for the project came from the Saarland sculptor Paul Schneider ( Merzig ). He was inspired for this by the Austrian sculptor Karl Prantl , who first launched a symposium of European sculptors and thus the idea of ​​a sculpture street in 1959 in St. Margarethen in Burgenland . Originally Schneider had the intention to create a sculpture "Sun-Lark-Witch-Stone" and give it to his hometown Merzig. From this project he developed the idea of ​​an international symposium in 1981 with a sculpture street that would emerge from it.

The sculpture street developed in several stages of development. The artist invited sculptor colleagues from Germany, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland to the first symposium in 1986. The stone sculptures created during the symposium were placed along hiking trails along the German-French border on a ridge of the Saargau between the Saarland towns of Büdingen and Wellingen and the neighboring communities of Launstroff and Scheuerwald in Lorraine ; Schneider named the project “ Stones on the Border ”. In the meantime, another six international symposia have taken place, the results of which have continuously enlarged the Sculpture Street.

In 1986 a support association of the same name was founded on the Saarland side and its counterpart " Menhirs de l'Europe " was established on the Lorraine side, and two works were added through it. Both associations act as ideal and financial sponsors of the project, they are financially supported by the public authorities in Lorraine and Saarland .

In 2002, the two Saarland projects “ Stones at the Border ” and “ Street of Sculptures ” were combined; At the interface at the Wadern district of Gehweiler, a sculpture by the two initiators Paul Schneider and Leo Kornbrust was placed as a visible sign of the connection . Both streets are dedicated to the memory of the sculptor Otto Freundlich (1878–1943). They see themselves as parts of his pacifist idea of ​​a great " street of peace ", a European sculpture street that should lead from Paris to Moscow . Freundlich had sketched this idea, but could no longer implement it; he was murdered on March 9, 1943 in the Majdanek concentration camp .

Up to 2010, 34 sculptures by 33 artists from 17 countries had been created on Sculpture Street.

Current development

The sculpture trail is certified to have a unique character - silent stones as symbols for friendship and international understanding, harmoniously integrated into the wide landscape. Some currently see this character threatened by plans for the construction of a wind farm.

Photos (selection)

  • Karl Prantl: Meditation Stone (1987)

  • Gerard Hoeweler: Granit (1992)

  • Volker Baumgart: Sandstone (1989)

  • Paul Schneider: Perspective (1987)

literature

  • Stones on the border. [Catalog for a photo exhibition]. Photos v. Karin Heinzel, LPM, and Elke Menzel. Concept / Text: Bernd Philippi. Landesbildstelle Saarland in the State Institute for Education and Media (LPM), Dudweiler, Saarbrücken 1988. 44. S., numerous. Fig. (B / w), ISBN 3-928189-21-2 .
  • Diwersy, Alfred: Stones on the border. The sculpture landscape of the Saargau. [With photos by Martin-Peter Scherzinger and contributions by Manfred Römbell and Paul Schneider]. Gollenstein, Blieskastel 1996. 208 p., Numerous. Ill. ISBN 3-930008-28-9 .
  • Arthur Fontaine: Stones on the border - a companion. Provesa Verlag, Merzig, 6th, extended edition, 2011. ISBN 978-3-928037-10-5 [handy route guide , 64 pages, color ill. + CD-ROM], and more recent editions about BoD, most recently in 2015.

Web links

Commons : stones on the border  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sculpture artists run storm against planned wind farms in Merzig . SOL - My Saarland online, October 6, 2013
  2. ↑ Wind farm - controversy without end . Saarbrücker Zeitung, August 22, 2013
  3. ↑ At the aesthetic limit of acceptance . Saarbrücker Zeitung, May 9, 2017