Europe in Frankfurt by Thomas Riess

About "Europe in Frankfurt"

by Thomas Riess

About the artwork

The Euro-Sculpture is a work of art by Ottmar Hörl that was realised in two copies. The 14-metre-high, 50-tonne illuminated sign shows a monumental blue euro sign surrounded by twelve yellow stars, the colours of the European Union.[1] The euro sculpture is a frequently photographed object in Frankfurt's city centre and is also used as an illustration in reports on the euro. Willy-Brandt-Platz (until 1992 Theaterplatz) is a square in the south-western city centre of Frankfurt am Main. It is located in the Frankfurt Anlagenring between Untermainanlage and Gallusanlage and is part of the so-called banking district. The buildings are characterised by the city's opera house and theatre and the Eurotower. The underground station Willy-Brandt-Platz and the theatre tunnel are located beneath the square. The name commemorates former German Chancellor Willy Brandt (1913 - 1992, Chancellor from 1969 to 1974). Until the demolition of Frankfurt's city fortifications in 1809, there were two city gates in the west of the city: the Old or Inner Gallows Gate from the 14th century, located in the extension of Große Gal-lusstraße and also called Gallustor or Gallentor since the 18th century, led out of the city across the inner moat to the bastion of the Gallows Bulwark located in front of the gate. Around 100 metres south of the Old Gallows Gate, on today's Willy-Brandt-Platz between Galgenbollwerk and Mainzer Bollwerk, the New or Outer Gallows Gate was built between 1661 and 1662 with a drawbridge over the outer moat. There was no direct access to the city from here. After the city fortifications were dismantled, city gardener Sebastian Rinz laid out the ramparts, a green belt protected from encroachment by the Wallservitut, which still runs around Frankfurt's city centre today. In 1810, Johann Friedrich Christian Hess erected two neoclassical gateways to protect the passages through the ramparts. Their wrought-iron