Radschlägerskulptur / Cartwheeler Sculpture







The origins of the “Düsseldorfer Radschläger” (Düsseldorf Cartwheelers) tradition are surrounded by a host of legends. What is verifiable is that children discovered turning cartwheels for tourists as a source of income at the end of the 19th century, when many travellers visited the city. Although there are several artworks depicting this tradition, Friedrich Becker created the best-known motif of a stylised cartwheeler, much reproduced and varied ever since. He first used it in 1958 as links in the Lord Mayor’s chain of office, in 1960 as a door handle for St. Lambertus Church and around 1995 as a sculpture for the Schadow Arcades. The latter is a cube assembled from the silhouettes of six cartwheeling children, each filling one side of the cube. The cube is mounted on a steel rod at one corner so that the movements of cartwheeling and rolling a dice merge into a dynamic whole.
Today, the stylised shape of the cartwheeler is one of the emblems of the City of Düsseldorf, which, however, has led to copyright disputes with numerous imitators.
Friedrich Becker
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Schadow Arkaden, Martin Luther-Platz, 40212 Düsseldorf