Kofferturm / Suitcase Tower

When the old Kreuztal train station was converted into a cultural station, not only were the studios of the artists Annette Besgen and Ulrich Langenbach created. The two artists also designed an almost five-metre-high sculpture that was installed in front of the building to mark the new cultural centre. It consists of a glass cylinder on a square ground plan with a concrete pedestal terminating in a circular bench. This glass cylinder is filled with numerous suitcases and other pieces of luggage donated by the people from the region who wanted to participate in the creation of the sculpture. A picture of the sky is stretched over one side of the tower, its top formed by a text band inscribed with fragments of sentences by the artists. The exact coordinates of the site of the sculpture and the words “si loin, si proche” (so far, so near) were contributed by Annette Besgen; Ulrich Langenbach supplied the words “tränen punktieren den abschied was dem auge fehlt” (tears punctuate the farewell what the eye lacks) and “die frage ist nicht wohin” (the question isn’t where to). These two restrained quotes are the only personal note added by the two artists. Otherwise they have dedicated the sculpture completely to the people of this region who are represented by their luggage, but also to travelling and arriving as such, to longings like wanderlust and nostalgia, being on the road and pausing.

 www.kulturbahnhof-kreuztal.de