Christmas pyramid (Johanngeorgenstadt)
The Christmas pyramid in Johanngeorgenstadt is a year-round large pyramid on Bergmann's Square in the Saxon town of Johanngeorgenstadt . With a height of 25.52 meters, the structure is the largest free-range pyramid in the world to date.
Prehistory and construction
The local entrepreneur Siegfried Ott had the idea for the building. Together with the carving specialist group of the local Erzgebirgszweigverein , a number of selected wood sculptors, wood designers and chainsaw carvers were contacted at the beginning of 2014 in order to win them over to the project. Finally, on June 14, 2014, the project “world's largest open-air pyramid” including framework conditions was presented to 16 artists - 14 of them from Germany and two from the Czech Republic . In addition, the planned motifs of around 20 planned pyramid figures with historical reference to the city were explained by the local historian Frank Teller from Johanngeorgenstadt . The first objective was to hold a wood sculptor symposium at which all the figures should be made.
The artists then worked out their figure designs, the symposium was held from October 2nd to 5th, 2014 in the area around the horse goblet; a total of 25 from Germany and the Czech Republic took part. - In addition to the 20 pyramid figures, the work of five Czech sculptors under the direction of Jiri Lain from Abertamy was added. They made figures about 1.60 m high with the motif of the birth of Christ. This group of figures should be placed near the pyramid.
The construction work began with the groundbreaking on August 27, 2014. Work on the base plate was completed by September, followed by the construction of the metal frame by the beginning of October, after which the impeller was put on. Finally, on November 14th, all the figures were assembled. On the Saturday before the 3rd Advent 2014, the pyramid was ceremoniously pushed as part of the Schwibbogen Festival.
In the following year, the pyramid received its lighting in the form of stylized pyramid candles and the steel rod construction was clad in wood.
Construction and design
The base plate of the construction has a hexagonal floor plan and consists of 500 tons of reinforced concrete . The pyramid frame is a metal rod construction with a weight of around 20 tons, with the three rods forming the base of an equilateral triangle. The frame measures 22.34 m from the base, together with the impeller measuring 11 m in diameter, the pyramid reaches a total height of 25.52 m. The six pyramid wings are transparent, which is due to the expected snow and wind loads . The shaft up to the impeller runs on a specially manufactured ball bearing in the base plate, which is dimensioned for a maximum of 30 tons of compressive stress.
The electrical lighting is provided with twelve stylized pyramid candles, four each on the outside of a rod of the frame. In addition, the figures are specifically illuminated by lights attached to the inside of the bars.
The 20 wooden, carved figures are arranged on cantilever arms in a spiral around the shaft. A total of eight tons of oak logs with a diameter of up to 1.1 m were used for the figures.
| Illustration | figure | Height [m] | meaning | sculptor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Exile on the run | 2.2 | As a result of the religious law regulations of the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, the mountain town of Platten in the Kingdom of Bohemia became a Catholic. The Protestant part of the population was forced to convert to Catholicism or to leave the country. In the winter of 1653/54 most of them left Platten and, with the permission of the Saxon Elector, founded Johanngeorgenstadt on the Fastenberg directly behind the neighboring Saxon border . | Friedhelm Schelter |
|
Elector Johann Georg I. | 2.2 | On February 23rd, Jul. / March 5, 1654 greg. Elector Johann Georg I approved the establishment of Johanngeorgenstadt by Bohemian exiles on the Fastenberg who were expelled from Platten and the surrounding area . He determined that the new city should bear his name. | Robby Schubert |
|
School director Christian Friedrich Röder | 2.2 | Cantor and school director of the city, founder of the Erzgebirgszweigverein, vernacular singer and poet of the Erzgebirge | Michael Rössel-Rothe |
|
Poet Max Schreyer | 2.2 | Born in Johanngeorgenstadt, Oberforstrat in Pulsnitz , poet of the song Dar Vuglbärbaam | Paul Brockhage |
|
Johann'städter Bergmeister | 2.2 | The miner in the uniform of the Johanngeorgenstadt mining area from 1786 is symbolic of silver ore mining. | Jesko Lange |
|
Wittigsthal hammer smith | 2.2 | This figure is a reminder of the former hammer mill in the Wittigsthal district . | Dietmar Lang |
|
Jugler glassblower | 2.1 | A glassworks existed in Jugel since 1571, in which glass panes, glasses and tankards were manufactured for the Saxon court. | Peter Duus |
|
Steinbacher Zinnseifner | 2.1 | Knee-high boots and hooded robes are characteristics of the Zinnseifner , who founded Steinbach in 1530 , a later district of the city. | Jörg Bäßler |
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Cabinet maker | 2 | In the 19th century, high-quality caskets , some with valuable inlay work, were made in Johanngeorgenstadt . | Peter Eberlein |
|
Mountain blacksmith | 2 | The oldest known Schwibbogen , dated to the year 1740, was made in Johanngeorgenstadt and was made by the mountain blacksmith JC Teller. | Uwe Demmrich |
|
Glove seamstress | 2 | Factory owner Levi Cohn is the founder of the ice cream glove industry (1868) in Johanngeorgenstadt, which subsequently became an important production location for this guild in Europe. | Tobias Michael |
|
Exhaust builder | 2 | This figure stands symbolically for the company FOX-Sportauspuffanlagen Blech Design GmbH and its managing director Siegfried Ott, who provided the idea and financier of the pyramid and the sculpture symposium. | Ronny Tschierske |
|
Bismuth buddy | 1.9 | The bismuth friend embodies the uranium ore mining in Johanngeorgenstadt after the Second World War, which left a lasting mark on the cityscape. | Siegfried Ott |
|
Border guards | 1.9 | The figure symbolizes the location on the border between Saxony and Bohemia. She wears the uniform of a Saxon border guard from 1835. | Heinz Günther |
|
Firefighter | 1.9 | This stands for the weir of the mountain town, which is one of the oldest in the entire Ore Mountains. | Hartmut Rademann |
|
Heinz Eger | 1.9 | Born in Johanngeorgenstadt, who has merits as a professor of medicine in the cardiologist and radiologist. | Andrej Löchel |
|
Ski jumper | 1.8 | It symbolizes the WSV 08 Johanngeorgenstadt, its talents and the city's ski jumping facilities . | Pavel Vitek |
|
Summer visitor | 1.8 | It stands for tourism and is deliberately designed in the style of the 1920s / 30s, in which the city experienced a holiday boom, especially due to KdF travel . | Volker Stuhlmann |
|
Lace woman | 1.5 | The lace-making was traditionally a sideline in miner families. | Holm Ludwig |
|
Blunder | 1.5 | The figure of the carver is a symbol of earlier livelihoods, later leisure activities and the maintenance of tradition in the Ore Mountains. | Johannes Düring |
Web links
- Bernd März: Photo series of the construction of the pyramid and the figures. Retrieved December 19, 2016 .
- Dietmar Lang: The world's largest Christmas pyramid. In: Langs Erzgebirgshaus - The Blog. Dietmar Lang, June 14, 2014, accessed December 19, 2016 .
- Dietmar Lang: 1st FOX - sculpture symposium in Johanngeorgenstadt. A new dimension of the outdoor Christmas pyramid is created. In: Langs Erzgebirgshaus - The Blog. Dietmar Lang, October 2014, accessed December 19, 2016 .
- Giant pyramid. City administration Johanngeorgenstadt, 2016, accessed on December 19, 2016 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 25 ′ 54.6 ″ N , 12 ° 42 ′ 47.1 ″ E