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.

www.wikipedia.org


Friedrich Becker

1922
geboren in Ende bei Herdecke; 1997 gestorben in Düsseldorf.
1936
nach seiner Kindheit in Grevenstein im Sauerland begann Friedrich Becker eine Maschinenschlosserlehre in Düsseldorf.
1940
Umzug nach Thorn, um dort Luftfahrttechnik zu studieren.
1942-1^945
Militärdienst bei der Luftwaffe.
1945-1947
Amerikanische Kriegsgefangenschaft.
1947
Beginn einer Lehre als Goldschmied in Iserlohn.
1948-1951
Studium an der Meisterschule für Werkkunst in Düsseldorf.
1951
Eigene Schmuckwerkstatt in Düsseldorf.
1967
Erster "kinetischer Schmuck".
1970
Pädagogischer Fachleiter der Werkkunstschule Düsseldorf.
1973-1981
Professor an der Fachhochschule Düsseldorf.
2016
Postum Einrichtung eines Ehrenraumes für Prof. Friedrich Becker im Düsseldorfer Rathaus, in dem Abbildungen seiner Werke mit Stadtbezug zu besichtigen sind.

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Location
Düsseldorf
Schadow Arkaden, Martin Luther-Platz, 40212 Düsseldorf
Artist
Friedrich Becker
Year
1995
Size
height 4.50 m
Material
stainless steel
Object type
Sculpture