Bridle and saddle are missing. Angela Merkel apparently doesn’t need that, she also masters the horse that way. The Chancellor sits concentrated on his back, her hands carefully formed into a diamond. “It looks like she’s on a riding holiday in the Upper Palatinate,” says Wilhelm Koch, the spiritual father of the equestrian statue in front of the Temple Museum in Etsdorf, a district of the Freudenberg community in the Amberg-Sulzbach district. He presented it on Friday.
If anything, Merkel would have been here for hiking. But the artist is not interested in historical truth. It is important to him that the first and probably also the only equestrian statue of the Chancellor does not stand on an urban pedestal, but on Etsdorf village grass and was not decided on by any upper level, but realized “below” through the use of many volunteers. A real “citizen equestrian statue”.
The monument thus differs significantly from the equestrian statues of bygone times, which are often reminiscent of heroes, whose deeds, judged by current moral standards, do not necessarily have to be permanently appreciated. These monuments usually only make a name for themselves when they are dismantled, as was the case recently when the Black Lives Matter movement began to remove statues from their pedestals and overthrow the symbols of white power.
Koch is the founder of the air museum
So equestrian statues are actually pretty out. But Wilhelm Koch has never had a problem with opposing the crowd. A book he published gave him the idea of immortalizing Merkel as a rider. Koch is not only an artist and a successful museum founder and director – the air museum in Amberg, which was named the most beautiful museum in the Upper Palatinate in the summer, is thanks to his initiative. He works as a graphic designer with his own publishing house and appreciates people who, like him, have a sense for out-of-the-way topics. The journalist Till Briegleb, for example, who has been photographing equestrian stills on his travels since 2005, motivated by the involuntary comedy that the “hero worship of noble violent criminals” (Briegleb) creates in today’s urban space. Koch immortalized Briegleb’s recordings and texts in the extensive, beautifully designed illustrated book “Horse and Rider / in” (Büro Wilhelm Verlag) and organized an accompanying exhibition in Etsdorfer, which he also founded Temple Museum, which deals regularly with Europe in special exhibitions. There are more than 200 digital prints of Briegleb’s equestrian stills (until December 20th), an ideal context for the new Merkel monument.
In the introduction to the book, Briegleb takes a critical look at the “gockel-like staging of male glory” and comes to the conclusion that, apart from “operetta dictators like Kim Jong Il” or possibly Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, “the Think of your heart as emperor and tsar, “no state leader would want to see himself portrayed in this way. And he asks: “Can anyone imagine Angela Merkel as an equestrian statue in front of the Chancellery?”
A steep template for his publisher, who as an aerial artist has already dealt extensively with the squaring of the inflated circle. It is not surprising that he could imagine a Merkel on horseback, even if, as a sculptor, he had previously avoided realistic representations. But an abstract Merkel rider was even beyond his imagination. “Then it loses strength and power,” he says. Or unambiguity, perhaps also ambiguity – he does not commit himself as precisely as you never really know whether he is serious or ironic. But because Koch is a fantastic networker, which he has already proven many times, he also found partners this time who supported him in implementing his idea. The company Additive Tectonics, for example, a company in Lupburg in Upper Palatinate, started in 2020 with the intention of revolutionizing construction through 3-D printing. In fact, by using a new 3-D printing process, the company succeeded in realizing the one and a half ton sculpture made of recycled lightweight concrete. The fact that it still looks quite classic is due to the bronze-like coating.
The know-how comes from the Upper Palatinate
For the digital printing base, Koch had previously searched the Internet for 3-D templates and quickly found what he was looking for. “We bought everything together: a horse, a portrait of Merkel’s head, the body, the position of the hand.” His friend, the media technician Georg Fruth, took on the task of merging the patchwork files into a template on the computer and sending them to Additive Tectonics. Some parts of the sculpture, such as the feet, are solid, others are hollow, the concrete walls are in part only 20 millimeters thick. “It’s great that all of the know-how comes from the Upper Palatinate,” says Koch with satisfaction and doesn’t want to talk long about how he repeatedly succeeds in convincing his partners to work on a voluntary basis and without pay. In any case, this is an art that Koch has mastered in a truly masterful manner.
From the political side he did not want any financial support. “Party politics should definitely not come into play.” He himself does not feel tied to any party either. The statue only expresses his personal appreciation. He says he has always liked what Merkel has done for the country personally. “To never say anything wrong is already a gigantic achievement in itself. And that she has held her own against the male ranks for years – that impressed me” – apart from the fact that he considers Merkel as the most famous living personality in Germany to be worthy of monument anyway.
The spectacular action once again draws attention to another project by Koch. He plans to build a Glyptothek in his home village of Etsdorf, a monument to 2500 years of democracy and the European idea. The idea that he has been pursuing since 2000 has received a lot of support. A development association has long been involved in the project, and there is a foundation whose capital was provided by pillar sponsors. The property, 11,000 square meters on a hill above Etsdorf, also exists; the building permit has been in place since 2009. And architect Peter Haimerl guarantees that no Walhalla replica will be created, but that the temple idea will be reinterpreted (on Youtube you can already see a model of the future portico). The only thing that’s still missing is money, which is why the start of construction announced for spring 2021 has once again been postponed. Koch has not given up hope. “That will be found,” he says.
Angela Merkel won’t ride forever in Etsdorf. Half a year, estimates Koch. Then the statue should be sold, bring in a little money for the Europe Temple. What does he do when nobody wants the statue? That cannot be ruled out, says Koch. But finding a solution to this should be one of his easiest exercises.