It “has been growing” since 2019: the sculpture of two intertwining trees on the forecourt of the Jewish Museum: One tree supports the other with its branches, while the latter extends its roots skywards. According to Ariel Schlesinger, the supporting tree should always be alive, while the uprooted tree is dead: It will never sprout green leaves again, bear fruit or shelter birds in its branches, but it still carries its past – simultaneously a burden and motivation for the living tree. Together the two trees form a unit and represent a balance between life and destruction, future and heritage.
The sculpture cites the religious traditions of the Jews in which, among other things, the analogy of man and tree play a key role. That said, Jewish history and culture in Frankfurt also inspired the work. Installed in front of the two buildings of the museum, the historic Rothschild-Palais and the modern connecting building it recalls the productive interaction between Jews and non-Jews in the 19th century: not only the many benefits the Rothschild family brought to the city but also Frankfurt’s sense of justice and the initiatives to create unity between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens.

A first detour from the tour can take you into the Jewish Museum. The permanent exhibition on show in the Rothschild-Palais presents Jewish history and culture in Frankfurt, one of the most important centers of Jewish life in Europe. The show covers the period from the Enlightenment to the present, while Museum Judengasse is dedicated to Early Modern times.
The new-build annex is designed to be a public space. Entry is free of charge and it offers free Wi-Fi, too. The annex features not only a library but also the Flowdeli. The kosher museum café combines elements of east European, Oriental and Israeli cuisine while bearing regional and local cooking traditions in mind. All the meals and beverages are also available to go.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

The Euro-Skulptur by Ottmar Hörl stands between Willy-Brandt-Platz and Gallusanlage, namely at the former seat of the European Central Bank. Installed in 2001 to mark the introduction of the euro it was modernized in 2015 and among other things converted to LED technology: As one can read on the artist’s blog “The illuminated symbol for European cohesion that is known throughout the world may be energy saving but it glows forcefully all the same.”
“I tried to design this emblem in such a way that every person regardless of their educational background will realize that, aha, here is the European Central Bank, that is the symbol for the euro, and the stars stand for the members of the European monetary union,” is how the artist explained the commissioned piece (in: Rede an die Menschheit, p. 202).
Moreover, the arrangement of the stars “without any classification principle” is significant: “The member states are individual and likely it will not be possible to regulate them in such a way that they all move in one direction.” (ibid.). Simultaneously, this “unique artistic liberty” resonates with one of the artist’s strategies for public space; here he alters something familiar and presents it in such a way that it can be experienced differently and encourages people to become inquisitive.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

In Frankfurt, too, many Jewish families decided to go into exile under the pressure of Nazi persecution. But most countries accepted only a limited number of fugitives, and the hurdles to entry were high. In 1938, desperate people were offered the opportunity to at least bring their children to safety. The Kindertransports took about 20,000 children to safe foreign countries, most of them to Great Britain. Frankfurt's main train station was an important starting point for these journeys.
The Orphan Carousel / Das Waisen-Karussell thematizes the void left behind after the hopeful as well as painful departure of these children. The memorial is modeled after an old-style wooden carousel, variations of which can still be found in children's playgrounds today. It can be used as a merry-go-round, but it is difficult to turn it.

Three sentences are engraved on the side walls: "See you soon, my child", "Goodbye, mother", "Goodbye, father" - words of farewell, that is, full of joy for a reunion. Parents comforted their children - and themselves - with the assumption that the separation would be only for a short time. But it was often a farewell forever, as most of those left behind were murdered in the Nazi extermination camps.
The memorial is dedicated to the children and their families who were separated in 1938/39. But it also makes us think of the many children and young people of today who have to leave their families behind in their war-torn homeland.
The erection of a monument to the Kindertransporte was initiated by "Kindertransport-Kindern". The design by Yael Bartana was successful in a competition organized by the City of Frankfurt. The memorial was erected in September 2021.

The City of Frankfurt would like to thank all those who supported the project ideally and financially: the Local Council 1 and private donors*, also significantly the Cronstett- and Hynspergische evangelische Stiftung zu Frankfurt am Main, the Dr. Marschner Foundation, the EKHN Foundation, the Ernst Max von Grunelius Foundation, the Hessische Kulturstiftung, the Nassauische Sparkasse and the Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft Frankfurt am Main.

Text: Kulturamt, 2021

From September 2, 2021 to May 15, 2022, the exhibition of the Deutschen Exilarchiv 1933-1945: "Child Emigration from Frankfurt" was held at the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
https://www.dnb.de/imagefilm-kinderemigration

More information on the Kindertransports:
http://www.juedisches-leben-frankfurt.de/de/home/kindertransporte.html
https://www.frankfurt1933-1945.de/nc/beitraege/show/1/thematik/auswanderung-und-zuzug-von-ausserhalb/artikel/kinderauswanderung-und-kindertransporte/suche/Kindertransporte/

When in 2007 the historic Goethe Monument returned to its original site on the Goethe Platz the modern Olymp von Weimar was erected in its place. It’s an adequate replacement; after all, Andreu Alfaro devoted an entire body of work to this man whom he describes as “the most important and most influential figure in culture both in his and our time” (Andreu Alfaro in “El Tiempo,” Valencia, Feb. 17, 1997: “la figura de Goethe ha estat una de les més importants i influents dins la cultura del seu temps i del nostre”). Alfaro’s homage encompasses over 100 sculptures as well as drawings and lithographs that were created between 1980 and 1990. At a height of eight meters, the Olymp von Weimar is the largest sculpture in this series. The Spanish artist wanted to produce an abstract portrait of Goethe’s personality.
The sculpture consists of stainless-steel tubes some of which are bent and some of which form a fan shape; at the center there is a rhombus that also features as a central figure in other works by Alfaro. But what does that have to do with Goethe? Does the fan shape visualize a kind of centrifugal force that Goethe used to unite influential contemporaries he was associated with and indicate that – in line with Alfaro’s view of Goethe – European integration is still possible after all? What is certain is that as observers walk around the figure they will discover ever new combinations of shapes.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

When in 1919 the municipal authorities of the City of Frankfurt decided to erect a monument to the soldiers who died in World War I, they selected Benno Elkan’s figure of a mourning woman cowering in pain. The sculptor had created the figure as early as 1913-4; for the commission he added a base with the inscription “To the victims”.
The monument attracted criticism from all sides. The reasons were not only of an artistic nature – allegedly the expression of pain was not convincing; people found the nakedness and strong sensuality disturbing. But above all by focusing on the victims the memorial broke with the tradition of the proud war memorial. And since it is simply dedicated to “the” victims in the remembrance it also includes those of the opponents. Conservative nationalists were irritated by the mourning figure: Understood as the personification of Germania she presented a broken Germany and represented an attack on national pride. Finally, the Nazis complained among other things that the monument lacked any hero cult and the pathos of dying for an ideal – topics that can be found in the Ehrenmal der 63er erected nearby in 1938.
Another reason for the monument’s poor acceptance is the fact that Benno Elkan was Jewish. After being banned from working in his profession he emigrated to London in 1935. His sculpture was earmarked for destruction but for unknown reasons was kept at the municipal road cleaning yard at Gutleutstrasse 220. On April 18, 1946, the monument was returned to its original location.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

Its cheerful blue color is visible through the greenery of bushes and trees – Franz West’s sculpture manages to attract attention even from a distance: This loop measuring roughly six meters in height is one of a set known as the Passstücke, one of these “sausages and coils reminiscent of intestines and excretions” (Almuth Spiegler in: Die Presse, Feb. 22, 2013). Once you have approached it, it invites you to touch it, look through it, sit on it. And not only is that permissible, it is consciously expected: After all, its creator insists that his work of art is only complete when observers not only look at it, but also participate in it.
The Blue Sculpture is one of the last works Franz West made. “His permanent questioning of his own role, a constant fresh combination of his own works, and self-irony are all facets of his unmistakable approach,” Klaus Görner says of the artist. Görner was one of the curators for the exhibition Wo ist mein Achter? that presented West’s works in Frankfurt’s Museum of Modern Art (MKK) in 2013. Today, the Blue Sculpture stands in front of the TOWER MMK, an MMK venue housed in the TaunusTower. Opened in 2014 it shows temporary exhibitions featuring works from the holdings, new acquisitions but also productions of its own that address current issues.

A visit to the TOWER MMK makes a good detour from the regular tour. Alternatively, you might like to take a break in the museum café as an extension of the tour, if you like. As the café terrace is right next to the Blue Sculpture it is an ideal spot for observing how other people respond to the work... And to the right behind the Heldenklage the next stop on the tour awaits, Open Cubes by Sol LeWitt.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

Open Cubes is a classic example of US Minimal Art and was created by one of its most famous proponents. It consists of seven identical white cubes that are open and stand in a row next to each other. Their cool, geometric appearance harmonizes well with the backdrop of skyscrapers. Concealed supports create the impression that the industrially made structure is hovering above the ground. Motion is created through setting the cubes back and forward.
Seen close up Open Cubes cannot be taken in properly. It is necessary to walk around and explore it and doing so reveals ever new views. Sometimes you get a clear geometric impression, other times it appears chance and uncontrollable like the city itself.

The centenary of Friedrich Schiller’s birth in 1859 unleashed a wave of inconceivable enthusiasm. Monuments were erected in numerous German cities, and Frankfurt was among them. Awe-inspiring, the young author gazes out over his audience. Book and quill denote the author of dramas and poems. The laurel wreath underscores the importance of Schiller, who had a lasting influence on German literature.
The Schiller Monument is entirely in the tradition that dates back to Classical Antiquity. The characteristics include having the subject stand tall above the general public by virtue of their larger-than-life size and pedestal, and the addition of the laurel wreath and other prestigious attributes. In the immediate vicinity are two other monuments that also commemorate authors although their style and appearance are completely different. The comparison shows how the understanding of the same task can alter within the space of 120 years.
In the Heine Monument made about half a century later the figures on the base do not represent the writer but rather his work, while the portrait of the poet is reduced to a plaque on the base. Another 70 or so years later Eduardo Chillida realized Ein Haus für Goethe, relying on an entirely non-figurative approach. Moreover, not only is there no base, the sculpture can also be entered – it is open to everyone.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

Heinrich Heine is not represented by the light-footed youth but in the medallion portrait on the front of the base. It is Heine’s poetry that Georg Kolbe wanted to visualize in the two life-sized bronze figures. The sculptor was inspired by two ballet dancers and created figures whose body language is characterized by elegance and presents the shift between repose and movement – depicting the concept of “rhythm”.
Kolbe won a competition with this idea. The brief included specifying that Heine the artist be shown and not Heine the revolutionary. Financed exclusively by donations from citizens the monument was unveiled in 1913 and met with an enthusiastic reception.
However, its subsequent history was turbulent. It was damaged in 1933; in his book Kaiserhofstrasse 12 Valentin Senger describes how Hitler youths used a crowbar to break the figures from their base. However, the young girl and young man were salvaged and after being restored they spent the Third Reich in the safety of the Städel, where before being tucked away in a storeroom they stood in the garden under the title Frühlingslied (Spring Song). In 1947, they were erected in the Taunusanlage and given a new base and new medallion portrait.
Frankfurt’s Heine Monument is the first one in Germany. It is one of three monuments erected to poets in the Taunusanlage. You can find a short comparison with the Schiller Monument and Ein Haus für Goethe in the text on the former.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

In a hidden place, embedded in a niche overgrown with ivy and having been poisoned by her stepmother the dead princess lies on a sarcophagus, yet as beautiful as ever. She is surrounded by the seven mourning dwarfs. One can only wonder when a prince will enter the Taunusanlage and fall in love with her! Then she will be restored to life again with the help of her hobbling servants and led to the altar to be wed. And the magic mirror will finally be able to give the correct answer to the evil stepmother’s repeated question ‘Who is the fairest of them all?’, namely “My Queen, you are the fairest here so true. But Snow White is a thousand times more beautiful than you.”

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

A monument for Beethoven. That said, the male figure in the middle is not immediately recognizable as the composer. Arguably there are physical similarities in the strong chin and the high, angular forehead. But why is he naked and of an athletic stature and why is he accompanied by two scantily clad women? The inscription on the base reveals to whom the monument is actually dedicated, namely: “The genius of Beethoven”.
His gaze turned towards the observers, this “Beethoven” indicates assertiveness – full of tension he has angled his powerful arms in front of his midriff and seems prepared to simply push aside any resistance he might encounter. He is accompanied by his genies: protecting spirits according to Roman mythology who were later also thought to personify human will. Here they stand for the creator’s intellectual processes: Engrossed in thought the “Pensive One” listens to an inner voice while the “Proclaiming One” looks out over her audience in a transfigured manner and announces what was heard.
Georg Kolbe finds means to visualize his topic, the personification of the “genius of Beethoven” in the use of traits associated with ancient Greece and Rome, namely the nudity and athletic stature of the hero. Placing the monument on an incline reinforces the monumental nature of the larger-than-life sized group of figures – and once again emphasizes the poet’s creativity that is elevated above earthly work.
Initially intending the work for a competition in Berlin Kolbe worked on the monument from 1926 to his death in 1947. The current arrangement takes up the third design of 1928. After a two-year hiatus in 1938, Frankfurt’s municipal authorities commissioned the artist to erect the monument in their city. However, it was not until after the war that it was possible to cast the figures. Finally, in 1951 the monument was installed.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

With his architectural installation sculptor Eduardo Chillida asks a number of questions. After all, it has absolutely nothing in common with the usual monuments to great poets and philosophers: Concrete instead of bronze, abstract shapes and geometric structures instead of figurative depiction and representation. That said, the work takes up another aspect of traditional monuments: It belongs to a body of work by Chillida that pays homage to famous artists, scientists and philosophers.
With Ein Haus für Goethe Chillida allows the public to relate in their own way to Goethe and his oeuvre. Chillida has created a space that is open on one side and can be entered and walked through. Moreover, this house dispenses with a roof. Perhaps he was thinking of Goethe’s passion for “light“ and its qualities. Chillida is supposed to have said: “The house of a man like Goethe could not be roofed over: The light he sought would have been obscured by a roof.”
Ein Haus für Goethe is one of three monuments erected in the Taunusanlage. You will find a short comparison with the Schiller Monument and the Heine Monument in the text on the former.

Text: Eva Burger 2015 and Christine Taxer 2021

The Ehrenmal der 63er is one of two monuments in the Wallanlagen – the other being the Heldenklage – that remember those that died in the war, namely soldiers in World War I and II – and the two could not be more different.
Created in 1938, the former memorial is modeled on a design by artist Harold Winter. It is dedicated to soldiers from Frankfurt who died fighting for the Field Artillery Regiment “Frankfurt (2nd Nassau) no. 63”, and consists of a red sandstone wall with several stele bearing inscriptions and a pillar; it is topped by an abstract urn with flames. Barely legible inscriptions denote the places of the battles in which the regiment was engaged. The barrels of the cannon that originally also stood here are now kept in Historisches Museum. An additional stone tablet also recalls the dead soldiers and those missing in action from Artillery Regiment 15/51,1939-45. The text reading “ZUM GEDENKEN AN / TATEN UND OPFER, PFLICHTERFÜLLUNG U. KAMERADSCHAFT” (TO THE MEMORY OF DEEDS AND VICTIMS, THE FULFILLMENT OF DUTY & CARAMADERIE) is very much in the Nazi spirit, which relied on pathos-filled language and imagery to extol the heroic deeds performed for ideals.
Such commemorations carved in stone may possibly seem out of place today. There is no doubting that war memorials dating from the Third Reich constitute a problematic legacy. That said, uncritical hero worship and the instrumentalization of the dead ought to concern present generations just as much as should the issue of how earlier generations dealt with memories. All these things form part of our cultural legacy.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

Jakob Guiollett (1746-1815) was a civil servant commissioned by the Archbishop of Mainz Carl Theodor von Dalberg with several construction projects and in 1806 also came to Frankfurt when the title of Prince-Primate was conferred on Dalberg. Among other things, Guiollett was to speed up what had been decided in 1802 but was progressing very slowly namely razing the city’s ramparts. In his treatise published in 1806 and entitled Bemerkung über die Schleifung hiesiger Festungswerke (Remark on razing the local fortifications) he proposed the ring of ramparts be torn down and the installation of a promenade and an English landscape garden – known today as “Wallanlagen”. A year later he was appointed “princely commissioner in charge of the ongoing demolition of the ramparts”. The work as undertaken can be seen on the four reliefs of the monument that depict laborers tearing down the walls and laying out the park. In 1808, Goethe read of how overjoyed his mother was at the sight, as she wrote in a letter to him: “The old walls have been removed, the old gateways torn down, there is a park around the whole town, it is as if it were a fairy world.”

Dalberg also conferred other offices on Guiollett, from 1811 to 1813, for example, he was appointed maire (mayor). When Frankfurt became a Free Imperial City again, he lost these posts. However, the locals remained eternally grateful to him. They not only erected a monument in his name made by Eduard Schmidt von der Launitz; he was also paid the honor of being buried in the Wallanlagen, close to the Rechneigrabenweiher in the Obermainanlage. And a street in south Westend was named after him, too.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

In 1948, the US Secretary of State George C. Marshall enacted the so-called Marshall Plan to support the economic recovery of West Europe. Primarily comprising loans and goods, and tied to certain conditions, this economic support program was designed to help participating states help themselves. In Germany, it contributed significantly to the Wirtschaftswunder or “Economic Miracle”. In 1953, Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Shortly after his death in 1959, Frankfurt’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry proposed a memorial be built in honor of his services; the fountain was financed by donations from local firms. In 1963, the Marshall Brunnen was officially inaugurated in a ceremony attended by high-ranking guests including German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard and US Secretary of State Dean Rusk. It was created by sculptor Toni Stadler, who was professor at the Städelschule between 1940 and 1944.
The three figures represent the Three Graces of Roman mythology. Goethe presented them in Faust II as the personifications of “Giving”, “Receiving” and “Thanking”; the lines in question (5299-5304) are engraved on a stone plaque on the north side of the fountain:
“Aglaia:
Grace it is we bring to living;
So be graceful in your giving
Hegemone:
Gracefully may you receive,
Lovely is the wish achieved.
Euphrosine:
And in quieter hours and places
Chiefly in your thanks be gracious.“

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

Created in 1982 by German-Japanese sculptor Taro Miyabe, this treble clef is so absurdly twisted that you can only guess what it actually is. With it, the artist captures a free movement that cites the improvising aspect of jazz music. And indeed, it thus draws attention to the location of the sculpture: it stands in front of the Jazzkeller and was commissioned by the former. Since it first opened in 1952 the venue has hosted famous German and international musicians including Chet Baker, Don Ellis, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Volker Kriegel, Albert and Emil Mangelsdorff, Bill Ramsay, Archie Shepp, something that earned Frankfurt the reputation of being Germany’s jazz capital. To this day, it is a real institution and is considered to be the oldest jazz club in the country.

It is also worth paying attention to the immediate vicinity. As the club is just off Goethestrasse, which is one of Germany’s most heavily frequented upmarket shopping streets. Since it was built in 1893-4 it has attracted high-end, premium stores: Today it brings together the likes of Armani, Bulgari, Chanel, Gucci, Hermès, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tiffany, Versace and other major luxury brands.
Those feeling peckish should head for Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse, which runs parallel to Goethestrasse and is also fittingly known as Freßgass (literally Gorging Street). This pedestrianized area is lined with cafés and bistros that often offer outdoor seating.

Text: Hanna Neumann 2017 and Christine Taxer 2021

The imposing-looking statue of the famous author stands on a base that is embellished with a relief. Various figures – allegories and scenic depictions – reference Goethe’s polymathic pursuits as well as his most important plays, novels and poetry. In addition, the attributes, in this case scroll and laurel wreath stand for the poet’s creative achievements and his immense influence through to the present day.
Created by Ludwig von Schwanthaler and inaugurated in 1844 it was the first public monument to Goethe. In fact, the initiative to erect such a work extends back to the year 1819, back to Goethe’s 70th birthday, when a special committee was founded to this end during a special meal in his honor. Though Goethe initially contributed ideas from his home in Weimar he was quick to distance himself from the enterprise owing to its “national character extending beyond his home town“; he did not want to be the protagonist of a national monument. Then the initiative failed to take off financially as the calls for donations did not have the desired effect, prompting Heinrich Heine to mock Frankfurt’s citizens: “Goethe has written his own epitaph / He was close to you when still a babe, but now / A whole world separates you from Goethe”. Nevertheless, efforts gained momentum after the first monument to a writer in a German city, namely the Schiller Monument, was erected in Stuttgart: People suddenly felt motivated. And when the finished monument was carted through the city in 1844 in order to get it to its final destination the enthusiasm was palpable with the journey resembling a triumphant parade.
A hundred years later the monument was damaged in an air raid and local citizens buried its remains to prevent people from scavenging the metal. Initially re-erected 1952 in the Gallusanlage, after restoration work in 2007 it was returned to its original place on Goetheplatz.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

The Gutenberg Monument on Rossmarkt is one of the major works by sculptor Eduard Schmidt von der Launitz. Three life-sized figures stand on the base: Johann Gutenberg and two of his most important patrons, Johann Fust and Georg Schöffer. Beneath the main cornice runs a frieze with 14 portrait medallions of famous printers, booksellers and publishers: WILL CAXTON, ALDUS MANUTIUS, ESTIENNE, HANS LUFT, EGENOLPH, ELZEVIR, FEIERABEND, BREITKOPF, BODONI, DIDOT, TAUCHNITZ, BRÖNNER, ANDREAE and KÖNIG. Under that there are coats of arms of the places that made a name for themselves as a result of the invention of printing: MAINZ, STRASSBURG, VENICE and FRANKFURT. The monument is completed by four figures: Allegories of theology, poetry, natural science and industry. There are fountains between the sets of steps at the base so that the monument has the feel of a fountain complex to it.
Gutenberg himself is thought to have lived in Frankfurt between 1454 and 1457. This was also the period of the Letter of Indulgence, the so-called Türkenkalender (warning of the danger the Turks posed and the Crusade Papal Bull by Pope Calixtus III) – material calling for the Turks to be repelled, a movement driven by said pope and Kaiser Friedrich III. The memorial was made of plaster in 1840 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of printing.

Thanks to Gutenberg’s invention it was possible to reproduce writing and consequently multiply knowledge and make it available to everyone. Its importance for people at the time can be compared to the importance of the Internet today. Gutenberg was truly a media revolutionary and in 1998 Time Magazine voted him Man of the Millennium. At a time marked once again by revolutions in the media the Gutenberg Monument is still highly relevant today.

Text: Ann-Katrin Schafhauser 2018 and Christine Taxer 2021

It has hung on the south side of the Kleinmarkthalle – the Market Hall – since August 1996, the Frankfurt Panorama. It was drawn by American architecture professor and artist Douglas Cooper as well as Frankfurt locals, Städel students and American students of German. While the top section shows a map of the town, the lower section features participants’ experiences and recollections. For example, one resident contributed her recollection of an Ernst May house in Römerstadt complete with its Frankfurt Kitchen and garden located on the banks of the Nidda.
The drawings are attached to a plywood panel measuring 9 x 6 meters. Douglas Cooper gifted the Frankfurt Panorama to the City of Frankfurt in memory of the time he spent here.

Tour2 is almost over – this panoramic mural of Frankfurt encourages visitors to think of their own experiences in various places and to tell them to others. Ideally, accompanied by one of the local specialties such as a Gref Völsing beef sausage, Frankfurters, pork ribs with sauerkraut, or one of the fantastic international dishes from the wide range of offerings here in the Kleinmarkthalle.

Text: Christine Taxer 2021

un es will merr net in mein Kopp enei: / wie kann nor e Mensch net von Frankfort sei!

(There is no town in the world / that I like as much as Frankfurt,
and I can’t imagine / how someone cannot be from Frankfurt)

Friedrich Stoltze was an author and publisher in Frankfurt and spoke out for the national unity of Germany and a democratic and republican state. Born 1816 in Frankfurt, already as a child he was familiar with liberal-minded folk who met in his father’s restaurant, Zum Rebstock near the cathedral. In 1860, he founded the weekly newspaper Die Frankfurter Latern, his main publication in which his satirical texts appeared. And as he was not one to mince his words, he was regularly in altercations with the censorship board. Today, Stoltze is known above all as a dialect poet; the verse quoted earlier is taken from a poem called Frankfurt.
Created in 1895 the Stoltze-Brunnen has since 2017 been located at its original site on the Hühnermarkt. And the new Old Town seems like a backdrop for the old fountain. The former is both fascinating and subject to controversy because the entire district comprising 35 buildings on a 7,000 square meter area does not stem from the Middle Ages but was realized between 2012 and 2018 with pointed gables, half-timbering, bay windows, murals, sculptures and emblems. In some cases, the buildings are reconstructions of old townhouses, some of them so-called creative replicas. Hof Rebstock the ensemble including the house where Stoltze was born has also been rebuilt and is located exactly opposite the Stoltze-Museum. What I wonder would Friedrich Stoltze have contributed to the Neue Altstadt (new Old Town) project – possibly a barrage of lampoons asking what place “Heimat” or home has today in the Middle Ages?

Text: Christine Taxer 2021