The Lorelei Fountain, also known as the Heinrich Heine Memorial, is a monument located on
East 161st Street in the
Concourse
A concourse is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space.
The term is not limited to places where there are literally pathways or roadways or tr ...
section of
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, near the
Bronx County Courthouse
The Bronx County Courthouse, also known as the Mario Merola Building, is an historic courthouse building located in the Concourse and Melrose neighborhoods of the Bronx in New York City. It was designed in 1931 and built between 1931 and 1934. ...
. It was designed by German sculptor
Ernst Herter
Ernst Gustav Herter (14 May 1846, Berlin – 19 December 1917, Berlin) was a German sculptor. He specialized in creating statues of mythological figures.
Life and work
Herter studied at the Academy of Arts in Berlin and later also as apprent ...
and created in 1896 out of Italian white
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
in
Laas, South Tyrol
Laas (; it, Lasa ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about west of the city of Bolzano.
Geography
As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 3,983 and an area of .All demographics and o ...
.
The fountain was unveiled at its current location in 1899 and is dedicated to German poet and writer
Heinrich Heine.
Heine had once written a poem devoted to the
Lorelei
The Lorelei ( ; ), spelled Loreley in German, is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...
, a feminine water spirit much like a
mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes ass ...
that is associated with the Lorelei rock in
St. Goarshausen,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The monument was originally to be placed in Heine's hometown of
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
, but
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
and
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
propaganda in the
German Empire precluded its planned completion on Heine's 100th birthday in 1897.
Design and location
![Heine Bronx 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Heine_Bronx_2.jpg)
Above the fountain bowl situated in Joyce Kilmer Park, bounded by the
Grand Concourse, Walton Avenue, 164th Street, and 161st Street, a life-size figure of
Lorelei
The Lorelei ( ; ), spelled Loreley in German, is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...
rises, supported on a base; the monument stands at the southern end of the Joyce Kilmer Park and is near 161st Street and the Grand Concourse, across from the
Bronx County Courthouse
The Bronx County Courthouse, also known as the Mario Merola Building, is an historic courthouse building located in the Concourse and Melrose neighborhoods of the Bronx in New York City. It was designed in 1931 and built between 1931 and 1934. ...
. Three
mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes ass ...
s sit in the fountain bowl resting at the base, which is supported by three
volute
A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an Ion ...
s. Located on the front side of the base, between two volutes, is a
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
of a profile portrait of Heine. Below that is the signature of the poet. The figure to the left of the relief, symbolizing
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
, sits to the right of the figure symbolizing
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
; on the back is a figure signifying
melancholy. Between the three figures are three
dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
heads. In addition to the Heine-portrait, there is a depiction of a naked boy with dunce-cap pointing his pen at a dragon, symbolizing humor. On a third relief, a
sphinx
A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon.
In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...
hugs "a naked young man in the kiss of death".
The
Lorelei
The Lorelei ( ; ), spelled Loreley in German, is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...
is dressed, according to Herter's biographer Brigitte Hüfler, in a non-contemporary garb. In her cleavage, she wears a necklace, and her embroidered jacket is pulled over the hips.
![Heine Bronx 11](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Heine_Bronx_11.jpg)
The figure symbolizing poetry is the only one of the three figures that faces the relief of Heine. It also faces towards a rose, which is supposed to express a particularly intimate relationship between poetry and Heine. From the right of the Heine-relief is the figure of satire, which turns her upper body towards Heine. In the back of the monument is positioned the "melancholy". The hair of the figure is long and unadorned, and she looks down sadly.
The reliefs on the barrel bridge the space between the auxiliary figures and the Lorelei. The Sphinx is holding a naked young man and gives him probably the kiss of death, because
the Riddle of the Sphinx
A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Aeolic Greek, Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon.
In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx has the he ...
has not been resolved.
[Hüfler, p 252] The humorous relief signifying killing a dragon could be interpreted as a matter of prejudice and public opinion. Heine's relief is embraced with a palm and a spruce twig.
History
Origin
In the autumn of 1887, a committee for the establishment of a Heine Memorial was formed in Düsseldorf. The aim of the initiative was to unveil the monument to the 100th birthday of the poet, in 1897. The Munich-based poet
Paul Heyse
Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse (; 15 March 1830 – 2 April 1914) was a distinguished German writer and translator. A member of two important literary societies, the '' Tunnel über der Spree'' in Berlin and ''Die Krokodile'' in Munich, he wrote n ...
participated in a call to the committee, and, among other things, wrote to the ''Düsseldorf Gazette'' on November 2, 1887 in Düsseldorf Gazette. Following Düsseldorf's lead, other German cities formed committees to support the project. Even in New York there was interest in the project. The Austro-Hungarian Empress and Heine admirer,
Elisabeth, also joined the Düsseldorf committee, and sent 50,000 marks toward the construction of the monument under the condition that the Berlin sculptor Ernst Herter would build it. In December 1887, Herter provided some designs for the monument.
On March 6, 1888, the Düsseldorf City Council decided to build a Heine monument at a tie of eleven to eleven votes, including the vote of the Mayor
Heinrich Ernst Lindemann, who was also a member of the Memorial Committee. The City Council was thus as divided as the German public, since the announcement of the monument plans sparked fierce debate. At the time of the vote, Herter already had a first plan for the monument, in that it was to contain a canopy. Since the Empress did not like this design, in May 1888 two further proposals came about: one depicting Heine sitting on a pedestal, the other with the current Lorelei fountain. The designs were submitted on June 30, 1888. While Elisabeth preferred the Heine-figure, Düsseldorf preferred the Lorelei Fountain.
Opposition to the monument formed almost immediately after the plans were released in the autumn of 1887. That year, two pamphlets were published, directed against Heine. In addition, several writers and newspapers wrote pieces defaming Heine. However, among some German journalists and writers, Heine was still popular and his plan was still supported.
By January 1889, the Empress withdrew her support. The project was thus temporarily shelved because public donations netted only 15,000 marks. However, since Herter had estimated a cost of 32 to 40,000 marks to build the monument, the artist now began to collect donations for the monument in its own right, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
Important supporters also resigned from the Düsseldorf Memorial Committee, including Paul Heyse and Mayor Lindemann. Due to limited funding, the Committee decided to grant Herter the contract for another draft. In December 1892, the Committee and sculptor signed a contract for the pedestal.
[Schubert 1990, p 256]
Initial placement attempts
After Düsseldorf's initial acceptance of the fountain in March 1888, the Committee announced on January 5, 1893 that the monument would be completed in 1895. On January 24, 1893, however, the project's construction permit was withdrawn since it was not covered by city laws, and also because of prevailing antisemitism in the German Empire at the time.
[ The Committee filed a lawsuit against the city for barring construction. Despite the setback in Düsseldorf, the cities of ]Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
and Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
(and Mayor of Mainz, Georg Oechsner
Georg may refer to:
* ''Georg'' (film), 1997
* Georg (musical), Estonian musical
* Georg (given name)
* Georg (surname)
* , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker
See also
* George (disambiguation)
{{disambiguation ...
, in particular) expressed interest. On July 10, 1893, the Mainz City Council authorized the erection of the monument, but the plan encountered strong opposition when Oeschner was ousted from his post. Newly-elected Mainz City Council members ultimately rejected the monument by a large majority on October 31, 1894.
Installation in New York City
After the monument failed to find a home within Germany, locations abroad were considered. By April 14, 1893, a German-American singing group called the Arion Society of New York had expressed support for its installation in the city. That same year, the Heine Memorial Association was formed by community members of Little Germany (including Carl Schurz and George Ehret) to advocate for the statue. Despite early setbacks due to the Panic of 1893, fundraising efforts to pool 100,000 German gold marks for the project eventually culminated in an event known as the Heine Memorial Fair held at the Lenox Lyceum on November 24, 1895.
While the monument enjoyed public support, the New York City Board of Parks rejected the project. Parks commissioners reportedly asked the government of Düsseldorf whether the monument had been refused in the latter only for political, and not also for artistic, reasons. The Board also consulted with the National Sculpture Society
Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members ...
, which called Heine monument's design "dry, weak and unconventional". The fountain was challenged not just on aesthetics, but also the Heine Association's desire to have it erected at the prominent Grand Army Plaza
Grand Army Plaza, originally known as Prospect Park Plaza, is a public plaza that comprises the northern corner and the main entrance of Prospect Park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It consists of concentric oval rings arranged as s ...
entrance to Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
(at the corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street). Just two years earlier, a monument to Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James ...
had also been rejected at the same location. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' described the monument as an "example of academic mediocrity, worthy of erection, but not worthy of erection as our chief municipal ornament".
With such clear opposition to the project being sited in Grand Army Plaza, alternate locations were considered, including Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, and even Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. On March 10, 1896, members of Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
ignored the Parks Commissioners' ruling on the project and requested approval from the New York City Board of Aldermen
The New York City Board of Aldermen was a body that was the upper house of New York City's Common Council from 1824 to 1875, the lower house of its Municipal Assembly upon consolidation in 1898 until the charter was amended in 1901 to abolish ...
without specifying a precise location. By this point, at least two other private sites were offered by prominent members of New York's German-American community: one at William Steinway's Bowery Bay Beach park, and another at Starin's Glen Island
Starin's Glen Island was a summer resort in the community of New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York, developed by shipping magnate and U.S. Congressman John H. Starin in the late 1800s. Starin's resort, referred to as "America's pleasure gr ...
park. At the suggestion of New York Republican party, the state created an art commission on March 4, 1896, which ultimately decided to place the monument in the Bronx. It was unveiled on July 8, 1899, at East 164th Street and Grand Concourse in the Bronx, to a crowd of 4,000 to 6,000 people, with Herter in attendance.
Vandalism and rehabilitation
The monument was, from the start, the subject of frequent abuse and vandalism; although the monument was guarded by police, in 1900, the mermaids' arms were cut off.[ Women of the Christian Association of Abstinence described the monument as "indecent" in a court case in February 1900; other sources considered the monument as a "pornographic spectacle". In 1940, the fountain was moved to the northern end of the park and partially repaired ][Sammons 1999, p 337] In the following decades, the vandalism subsided, but later, the heads of the female characters were cut off again, the monument sprayed all over with graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
. In the 1970s, the fountain was considered the statue in New York most affected by vandalism and destruction.
Plans to completely restore and move the monument back to its original position were formed in 1987. The Municipal Art Society of New York
The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is a non-profit membership organization for preservation in New York City, which aims to encourage thoughtful planning and urban design and inclusive neighborhoods across the city.
The organization was ...
launched an "Adopt a Monument" program, which rehabilitated about 20 monuments. However, because of the initially estimated cost of $275,000, the renewal was delayed. A visit to former North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
Prime Minister Johannes Rau
Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician ( SPD). He was the president of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004 and the minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia from 20 September 1978 to 9 June 1998. In th ...
in September 1989 netted a 50,000 mark donation; later, $700,000 was raised through private donations. The fountain was reopened on July 8, 1999 at East 161st Street and the Grand Concourse, three blocks from its original location.[Christopher Gray (May 27, 2007)]
"Sturm und Drang Over a Memorial to Heinrich Heine"
''New York Times''. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
References
Cited sources
* Michele Bogart: ''The Politics of Urban Beauty'', Chicago 2006.
* Brigitte Hüfler: ''Ernst Herter 1846–1917, Werk und Porträt eines Berliner Bildhauers,'' Berlin 1978.
* Paul Reitter: "Heine in the Bronx", in: ''The Germanic Review'' 74 (4), 1999, pp 327–336.
* Jeffrey L. Sammons: "The Restoration of the Heine Monument in the Bronx" in: ''The Germanic Review'' 74 (4), 1999, pp 337–339.
* Wolfgang Schedelberger: ''Heinrich Heine in der Bronx'', in: Extra (Wochenend-Beilage zur Wiener Zeitung), December 11, 1998, p 5
* Dietrich Schubert: "Der Kampf um das erste Heine-Denkmal. Düsseldorf 1887–1893, Mainz 1893–1894, New York 1899", in: ''Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch: Westdeutsches Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte'' 51, 1990, pp. 241–272.
* Dietrich Schubert: ''Jetzt wohin?“ Heinrich Heine in seinen verhinderten und errichteten Denkmälern'', Köln 1999.
External links
*
{{Protected areas of New York City
Fountains in New York City
Heinrich Heine
Marble sculptures in New York City
Parks in the Bronx
1899 sculptures
1899 establishments in New York City
Concourse, Bronx
Vandalized works of art in New York City
Outdoor sculptures in New York City
Sculptures of mermaids
Dolphins in art
Sculptures of men in New York City
Sculptures of women in New York City
Dragons in art
Nude art