The group of five stylised cranes seems to rise weightlessly into the air. The artist effectively achieves this impression by a skilful composition of the birds\u2019 bodies whose wing tips touch. The lower bird in the group, which fans out in several directions, is mounted on a stone plinth, the rest are strung together in a sweeping arc. The individual bronze elements are abstract interpretations of the basic shape of a bird\u2019s body and can also be perceived as an almost abstract series. Erich Fritz Reuter, a professor at Technische Universit\u00e4t Berlin who created numerous works in architectural contexts in public spaces, did mostly figural work, but in his later years also created entirely abstract forms. \u201cFliegende Kraniche\u201d was created in 1959 for a fountain on Gontermannstra\u00dfe in Berlin Tempelhof. The work was also produced as a small-scale sculpture. This commission for the City of Hilden, Holterh\u00f6fchen Park, came about in 1964 through the architect Peter Poelzig, who knew the artist from TU Berlin.<\/p>\n