Bochum.
Unknown perpetrators have stolen several bronze sculptures in Bochum’s city park. They had been there for decades. The damage is tremendous.
“It’s unbelievable!” City planning officer Markus Bradtke is appalled. Last weekend, unknown persons in three places in the Bochumer Stadtpark stole several figures that have shaped the image of the Stadtpark for years. “It’s amazing what vandals and thieves can do.”
On the one hand, it is the frog that stood on the base of the “frog bridge” named after him at the waterfall. All four fish arranged at the young girl’s fountain in the rose garden were also stolen. And the approximately 1.2 meter tall swan at the swan pond was removed and transported away, complete with anchorage.
Stolen artworks also have emotional value
All works of art consist of a bronze-copper alloy and also have a high emotional value for many Bochum residents.
The young girl fountain and the swan fountain were only repaired last year. The theft damage should be in the upper five-digit range. The police filed a complaint against unknown persons.
The frog has been in the city park since 1935, on the base of the “frog bridge” named after him at the waterfall. The figure had a size of about 0.50 x 0.50 meters. The frog was stolen before in the mid-1990s. In 2004, the artist Ekkehard Arens from Dülmen was commissioned to reconstruct the frog as faithfully as possible using photos. In a naming campaign among Bochum children, “Fridolin” was baptized.
The stolen swan has stood at the swan pond in the Bochum city park since 1959
The swan was drawn by the artist E. Reift and modeled by G. Kuhle. It is a good one meter high and has been at the Schwanenteich since 1959.
The young girl fountain, from which all four fish were stolen, was designed by the sculptor Wilhelm Gerstel and the architect Eugen Schmohl in 1926. The fish are around 0.40 x 0.30 meters in size. An attempt was also made to remove the figure of the young girl, which is mounted on a sphere of shell limestone on the fountain, but this was unsuccessful. However, the attempt caused considerable damage to the center column, which is made up of several individual parts. The girl figure is now dismantled and secured.
In 2026 – for the 150th anniversary – the park should shine in new splendor. In 2027 it will be presented to an international audience as part of the International Garden Exhibition in the “Our Gardens” section.
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