Wuppertal, a city that spreads from a central valley up the surrounding hills, boasts around 500 public stairs. One of them is the \u201cHolsteiner Treppe\u201d in Wuppertal-Ostersbaum, which dissects a row of houses and whose 112 steps in nine sections going up Engelsberg connect the Gathe with Holsteiner Stra\u00dfe. In 2006, as part of the Montag-Stiftung\u2019s \u201cLebendige Nachbarschaften\u201d (Living Neighbourhoods) project, the artist Horst Gl\u00e4sker transformed them into an initially temporary work of art. After the paint had been removed, however, a local initiative campaigned for the restoration of the work, which happened in 2008. It was renovated once more in 2016 as it had suffered over time.<\/p>\n
Gl\u00e4sker transforms the nondescript grey stairs into a high-coloured \u201cTreppe der Gef\u00fchle\u201d (Stairway of Emotions) by painting every step in a different colour and accentuating them with likewise coloured words in \u201cHumanist” font. The words \u2013 verbs, adjectives, and nouns \u2013 are grouped by themes which in turn are assigned to the sections so that, in accordance with the artist\u2019s design, every step of the stairs can trigger a chain of associations: \u201cColour and precise words set a poetical logic in motion that opens the senses and renews and enhances the whole situation. Mounting the stairs soon reveals one\u2019s physical and mental constitution. The stairs thus become a metaphor of being human.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first four flights of stairs, each with 15 steps, are marked with words on \u201cfamily\u201d, \u201ccommunication,\u201d \u201cexploring the world\u201d and \u201cdiscovering love,\u201d citing both positive and negative emotions. The following section is dedicated to \u201ccommunication.\u201d The next, \u201cexploring the world,\u201d is followed by sections on \u201creflection-solution,\u201d \u201csociety-state\u201d and \u201cinsight.\u201d The last section header is \u201cwisdom of age.\u201d This is where the wanderer, tired after more than 100 steps, finds calm, scope, meaning, freedom, faith, consideration, and gratitude. Finally, the top step is inscribed with the term courage.<\/p>\n
\u201cScala\u201d is very popular both with residents and tourists, who send it around the globe as a photo motif.<\/p>\n