The relief sculpture ''Friede sei mit Dir'' (), also known as the cock of Berlin is an artwork by sculptor Peter Lenk. It is located in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

at the former building of the editorial staff of German newspaper taz. The sculpture displays living persons who were involuntarily used in controversial

headline The headline or heading is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th centur ...

s by newspaper '' Bild''. The main part is a caricature of former ''Bild'' editor-in-chief

Kai Diekmann Kai Diekmann (born 27 June 1964 in Ravensburg) is a German journalist. From 1998 until 2000 he was editor of ''Welt am Sonntag'' (English: World on Sunday). From January 2001 to December 2015 he was chief editor of '' Bild''. He is also a membe ...

, stretched over five floors. The title on the top floor, "Friede sei mit Dir", is a

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

: either "Peace be with you" or "

Friede ''Friede'' (German: peace) was a fictional spacecraft designed by Hermann Oberth and was featured in the 1929 silent movie ''Woman in the Moon''. The ''Friede'' was, at the time, the most realistic depiction of space travel, having multiple stage ...

be with you", the latter referring to ''Bilds publisher who is depicted on the left-hand side of the fourth-floor façade snake-charming. The sculpture's background is a satirical article and the ensuing lawsuit. In 2002, journalist Gerhard Henschel claimed that Kai Diekmann had undergone a failed medical enhancement operation. Dieckmann sued, unsuccessfully, for damages to his personality rights. The court held that the claimant, in his function as chief editor of ''Bild'', had willingly decided to become an actor in a personality-rights-infringing business from which he was profiting economically, and therefore was not entitled to maximum protection against infringement of his own rights. The sculpture itself was installed in 2009 and remains legally unchallenged.

References

German art Die Tageszeitung {{Germany-sculpture-stub