In summer it is hardly noticeable under the dark umbrella of large plane trees on the forecourt of St. Antonius Church: “Girl with a Pigeon”. It stands very firmly and quietly on the small, round bronze plate and looks at the pigeon that has taken its place on her right wrist. The animal attentively looks at the girl’s left hand. Are there any other grains?
By Gregor Spohr
It is said that the bird lovers put some kernels of corn in the girl’s hand and other pigeons joined them. Real pigeon. Because the girl in front of the church, like her pigeon, is made of bronze, designed by sculptor Annette Wittkamp-Froling. The artist designed the bronze sculpture in 1986. In 1990, the work was put on small squares.
A pigeon can be found at several works of art in Herton. No surprise, as the bird not only stands for peace, but also for a very special hobby of miners: breeding carrier pigeons. When mining settlements in Herton and the entire Ruhr region were built around 1900, practically all households had a stable for growing vegetables, goats or rabbits, and a “scaffold” – a pigeon. Every weekend “little man’s racehorse” were sent on their way. His breeders organized themselves into associations and in 1927 founded the Herton Travel Association at Ewaldstras’s Ennmann Restaurant. With the death of mining, interest in pigeon racing also declined. The Travel Association currently lists five associations on its homepage.
The bronze girl with her pigeon should have originally found a place in the middle of a small well. This was done without considering the high operating costs. Luckily. The small sculpture, designed in figurative realism, stands there naturally on the sidewalk in front of the church. For over 30 years it has been part of the bus, and is hardly noticeable as you pass.
Its manufacturer comes from Annette Wittkamp-Falling Offlane. At the age of 15, he began studying sculpture at the Volkswang School in Essen at the age of 16 with Adolf Wumper and successfully graduated in 1967, first receiving lessons from Karl Odenbritt at Dutlan and Norbert Ahlmann at Lubertson. . He taught art at two grammar schools in Ludingson, worked as a freelance sculptor and established his first gallery in Ludingson in 1976, which still exists today. She performs her work and photographs of her husband, painter and poet Frantz Witkamp, on Sepanaderer Stra स्ट्रe.
In Lüdinghausen and the surrounding area you can find more than 20 bronze sculptures – Annette Wittkamp-Fröhling – from Kiepenkerl to the money counter in front of the Volkbank opposite the Vischering Castle.
Your girl with a pigeon may soon catch the eye compared to today when the square and street in front of the church have been redesigned as part of the “The Park Comes to Town” program. Hopefully it will be possible to maintain silence at the same time, which you can enjoy in today’s time.
