Regenwasserbaum

Rainwater tree on the green space behind the Technikum (Lange Str. 124)

The rainwater tree was created in 2002 by the sculptors Hans-Werner and Jens Kalkmann together with Mirek Abramovicz in a citizen art campaign. The artists chiseled away around a ton of rock to carve out the tree trunk, in whose spiral-shaped "bark" the rainwater is supposed to flow down.

The stele, which weighs around two tons and is three meters high, is made of syenite, a medium to coarse-grained magnetic deep rock. Thanks to a generous gift from Winter, the company that made the roof, the sculpture can be seen in action when it rains. A blue metal blade weighing around 150 kilograms then catches the water and channels it through a small opening along the trunk. "The stele symbolizes the organic. The leaf element acts like an architectural counterpart," explained Hans-Werner-Kalkmann at the opening.

The idea of the civic stone campaign, which was implemented in the "The Path" art project in front of the community center, was also revived here. More than 50 citizens carved a sandstone as part of the city marketing project "Lagenser Zwischentöne". Blacksmith Christian Neukirch sharpened the chisels on his anvil, while the artists helped with the sketches on the test stones. Drops, leaves, beetles and stars were carved out of the surface. It is not quick shaping, but patience and the accompanying engagement with the work that leads to a result worth seeing. "When we involve the citizens, they identify much more intensively with the place," said the artist. In a round paved circle behind the technical center, 24 cobblestones were therefore arranged like a clock face.

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