The tallest of the filigree turrets protrudes more than a meter out of the water. Just above the surface of the lake, the waves find a small gap between the stacked stones and wash through with a soft splash. The structure looks so fragile, as if it were about to overturn at any moment. And yet the construction holds up – at least until the next thunderstorm rages on Lake Heimstetten.
Carmen Finkenzeller stands on the meadow on the bank in front of her newly completed stone tower and looks up at the sky. It was only in the morning that dark clouds passed, she says, and for a short time she was afraid. But rain and wind spare the east of Munich this morning, Finkenzeller’s work of art will endure for a while.
Real craftsmanship: Finkenzeller’s stone towers in Heimstettener See.
(Photo: Leonhard Simon)
According to her accounts, it has now been almost ten years since she observed a couple at the lake who built turrets out of pebbles. The two only stacked three or four stones on top of each other, but Finkenzeller took a liking to it and began too. She continued to build, ambition was awakened. Since then, the Feldkirchen native has been regularly to be found at the Heimstettener See every summer, where she is constantly creating new works of art.
Above all, it is a matter of practice to be able to create such a tall and detailed structure, as Finkenzeller says. Quiet, concentration and patience are important – after all, after days of work, shortly before completion, a gust of wind brings the entire plant to collapse and you have to start building again, she says.
You also need the right stones, which, according to Finkenzeller, cannot be found on the shores of the lake. Every spring she has to look for new ones, the old ones disappear over the winter. With the help of her son, the 51-year-old drives her stand-up paddle board across the lake and fetches suitable stones from the water, which she then brings to the bank to build.
The right ratio is crucial, explains Finkenzeller. Particularly large stones are required as a foundation. “Water has enormous buoyancy, even with stones. If you only put small pebbles on top of each other, you have no stability.” Even the smallest wave would cause such a structure to collapse.
Bit by bit, Finkenzeller lets her castle grow higher and higher above the foundation stones, first in the water, then above the surface. Not every stone fits every place, the artist has to pay attention to the weight and shape, among other things. She can build a maximum of two to three hours at a time, she says – then lose concentration. The building is also physically demanding, the Feldkirchen native swims a lap every now and then to relax.
It takes a total of two to three days for Finkenzeller to get to a point “at which prudence must triumph,” as she herself says. It is sometimes tempting to put a small, round stone on top of a tower – but it is precisely this pebble that often destroys the delicate balance. How does she know that her work of art cannot take another stone? “It’s purely a matter of feeling.”
According to Finkenzeller, some curious bathers have already discovered how fragile the structure can be. “Some think: I can add a stone to that,” she says. Of course, many would willfully knock over the castle. But the most common cause of the destruction is a lack of imagination: “People don’t believe that gravity and balance are the only means of maintaining this. A lot of people have said that it is stuck.”
In fact, a little later a swimmer carefully approaches the castle from the waterfront, looks at the stones, walks around the structure. The man obviously does not dare to touch the work of art – the castle remains intact, he continues to swim.
Most people are enthusiastic about their work, says Finkenzeller, who offers city tours through Munich on a professional basis. Frequently she is approached by passers-by when she is standing in the water and building or lying on the meadow next to her castle, many would take photos. “You get to talk to people.” Some bathers already knew about Finkenzeller’s work from previous years, “they’ll be waiting for it in the spring”.
Finkenzeller builds her castles all summer long, which are brought to collapse again and again not only by curious people, but also by wind and rain. During the reconstruction, different structures emerge each time, no castle is like the previous one. A few years ago, she says, the result reminded her of a Thai pagoda, and last fall of Stonehenge. In advance, however, Finkenzeller never sticks to a particular style: “It’s just trying out what works and what doesn’t.”