September 23 marks the anniversary of the opening of the 15-meter-high fountain Blue Obelisk on the central island of Theodor-Heuss-Platz in Charlottenburg for the 29th time. The artist Hella Santarossa wanted to celebrate this – but now she no longer feels like it: In the night of last Saturday, the blue glass was damaged at a height of around three meters. The perpetrator(s) caused a large hole and also bent parts of the metal rods.
The artist reported the damage to the police, who reportedly want to examine two stones for possible DNA traces. However, Hella Santarossa does not believe that stones were thrown, but rather explains the extent of the damage by the fact that someone had climbed a ladder with an axe or other striking tool. The construction is actually quite stable.
© private/Christel Wollmann-Fiedler
The motif is completely mysterious. Santarossa also designed the obelisk as a symbol of international understanding and peace. On Sunday, supporters of the artist attached a protective tarpaulin over the hole, which had already grown larger. In response to inquiries, the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district office announced on Monday that it would also cordon off the area so that “hopefully no further damage can be caused.”
Technical defects already existed before
The outer layer of the glass is hand-blown and contains artistic lettering. The repair could therefore be expensive and time-consuming. At least Hella Santarossa still has her old templates and generally believes she is in a position to restore the destroyed area.
Already in the summer of this year she had the lamented the dilapidated state of their workThe water has not been bubbling for years, the evening lighting does not work and graffiti defaces the lower part of the obelisk. In order to finally get the district office as the owner to take immediate action, an online petition and an art action started.
The Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Roads and Parks Department had already fixed pipe bursts and other technical problems last spring. However, the Berlin Waterworks are still facing unable to enter the underground technical roomto prepare for the re-commissioning. The district office still needs to install a “fall protection” for a 100 kilogram concrete cover at the entrance, says company spokesman Stephan Natz. “Otherwise our people run the risk of being crushed by the cover plate.”
