Wir überwinden Grenzen

Large spherical column, 1971

by Fritz Koenig

Bronze; height 430 cm

University Medical Center Freiburg
Killianstraße 2
in the inner courtyard of the staff canteen

Cyclops eye

When the staff of the university hospital take a break on the open-air terrace of the staff canteen in summer, an interesting sight emerges: A curious, towering bronze figure stands silently and seemingly unnoticed in the midst of white coats. It looks as if only the bare essentials have been assembled. A giant, one-eyed spherical head balances on a simple, pole-like torso. Is a joking Cyclops eye monitoring the medical staff? Or is the figure in this pose even holding up a mirror to the modern art of healing?

In any case, this creature provides plenty of food for thought. Immediately after its creation in 1971, a stranger pinned the following business card to its body:

"I, Kunibert
from Hünersedel
with a fat head
without arm and frond
I was born a cripple

I was placed here
."

The artist Fritz Koenig does not reveal the true identity of his creation either; he simply calls it "Große Kugelkopfsäule". However, a closer look at the work shows that all previous designations fall short of the mark.

Koenig's works thrive on the contrast between formal simplicity and rigor on the one hand and expressive content on the other. He assembles an exciting sculpture from stereometric building blocks such as a sphere and round rods. The spherical head does not rest directly on the round pole, which is tapered at the top and bottom, but is connected to it by several interlocking joints.

The sphere itself is split once again into unequal halves, from the opening of which an eye-catching bulge emerges. It is astonishing how Koenig succeeds in hinting at and linking a wealth of content in such an elementary formal language; the association with an archaic totem pole is just as obvious as the thought of an extraterrestrial robot being. What unites such interpretations is the impression of the presence of a mysterious being that remains alien and sublime. Whether totem, robot, cripple or bone man - it has everything in view.

Below the eye, traces of the rain of recent decades run down the face and torso like tears. Is Kunibert crying?

Ulrike Schumann

^{_{from: Skulptur in Freiburg, Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts im öffentlichen Raum}
Published by Michael Klant in collaboration with Oliver Dieskau}
mondo^{verlag GmbH, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1998, ISBN 3-922675-76-X}