Sculptures in Aabenraa Municipality

Sculpture tour in Aabenraa Municipality

• Anna's Work

   

  Title and year
  Anna's work, 1996
  
  Materials
  Steel with bench and bronze statue
  
  Artist
  Lone Høyer Hansen, b. 1950
  
  Location
  The corner of Nørreport and H.P. Hanssens Gade, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  Three interesting phenomena from the history of Aabenraa are interwoven in this group sculpture:

  Maritime activities are seen in the latticework’s ships and fish, waves and currents.

  Miss Fanny, said to be the illegitimate daughter of King Christian VIII of Denmark, was raised by the county councillor at the small local castle Brundlund Slot. Legend has it that Miss Fanny was a clairvoyant. Among other things, she foresaw the region’s reunification with Denmark, which officially took place in 1920. She was also known for her exquisite needlework. Her original embroideries are on display at Aabenraa Museum, while elements from their patterns are seen in the sculpture’s latticework.

  Franciska Clausen made her mark from the 1920s onwards as a ground-breaking avant-garde artist. Her line is also recognizable in the sculpture’s latticework and shows her skill at using geometry in her art.

  It is typical for the sculptor Lone Høyer Hansen to compose a work that integrates multiple elements. Here, behind the latticed structure, a female figure stands tall and erect, holding an oversized needle. This feature alludes to the South Jutland women from the Skærbæk area who, in the late 1800s, were well-known for their woven art deco blankets and other textiles.

  Anna’s work was Lone Høyer Hansen’s first commission for a public artwork.

• Caged bird

  

  Title
  Caged bird
  
  Material
  Iron
  
  Artist
  Erik Heide, f. 1934
  
  Location
  The current town hall Aabenraa Rådhus (formerly the county seat Amtsgården), Skelbækvej 2, Aabenraa

  Description
  Visitors to the town hall, Aabenraa Rådhus, pass the rustic sculpture Caged bird, just at the entrance. Crammed into a rust-coloured iron box sits a bird with clipped wings. It seems to be cringing back. The cage has been ripped open, and the cut-off wings lie atop the box, still resilient and outstretched. One has to wonder: Could they fly without the bird?

  On the other hand, viewing the motif from a distance and considering Caged Bird purely as a sculptural shape, one discovers an intriguing interplay with the building’s architecture: The proportions of the sculpture are repeated in the lines of windows that run across the façade of the large administration building. What is more, the oxidized iron’s shades of rusty red-orange agree with the play of colours in the brown-toned fired bricks.

  Although Erik Heide did not create Caged bird for this particular location, it suits its surroundings well.

• Clash

  

  Title and year
  Clash, 1993
  
  Material
  Granite
  
  Artist
  Claus Ørntoft, b. 1959
  
  Location
  Søvænget, Rødekro
  
  Description
  Is this a tussle for fun, or combat in earnest – these two hulking granite beasts going for each other’s throats? Clash exemplifies the sort of violent, pent-up energy and movement that Ørntoft somehow manages to encapsulate in his sculptures. These figures almost seem on the verge of breaking free of the rock itself, their brute strength tamed to breaking point.

  The artist finds inspiration in the Icelandic sagas and Nordic mythology, and in his work one can also identify elements seen in medieval Nordic stone carvings. A typical feature of Ørntoft’s large-scale works is that they are endowed with an inner equilibrium, harmonious and resting in themselves, not in spite of their powerful expression, but rather by virtue of it.

• Cleaved granite sculpture

  

  Title and year
  Cleaved granite sculpture, 1982
  
  Material
  Granite
  
  Artist
  Poul Isbak, b. 1943
  
  Location
  Haderslevvej 52, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  The heaviness of bedrock – the lightness of air. These two elements are contrasted in Poul Isbak’s sculpture, which stands in front of the stately building that once housed the town’s German upper-secondary school, and later og until 2022 its police station.

  Poul Isbak often creates sculptures inspired by objects from our daily lives, such as chairs and sofas. Here, however, we have a more abstract sculpture that mainly piques our curiosity because of the empty space between the two blocks: Are these shapes repelled by one another, or mutually attracted? What overwhelming power has split them apart, or keeps them close together?

  The duality of Cleaved granite sculpture is also embedded in the material, where the artist has given the hard, split granite a finish that makes it look smooth and soft, a surface you want to lovingly stroke with your hand.

• Coal wall

  

  Title and year
  Coal wall, 2005
  
  Materials
  Concrete, steel, aluminium, fibre-optic lights
  
  Artist
  Niels Junggreen Have, b. 1946
  
  Location
  The former power plant Enstedværket, Flensborgvej, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  Each day thousands of cars drive along the major approach road from the south, passing the old coal-fired power plant that once supplied the town of Aabenraa with energy. Its mountains of coal were hidden behind a dynamic structure designed by the architect Niels Junggreen Have: Coal wall is 500 metres long and 25 metres high, but just 20 cm thick. The free-standing construction follows a lively, meandering course with sharply angled turns and softly curving folds, as if it were made from a piece of stiff paper rather than concrete.

  Once darkness falls the wall becomes even more lively: 222 small fibre-optic points of light shine with slowly shifting intensity, like stars pulled down into the structure itself. During the day, sunlight is reflected in 33 sail-shaped aluminium triangles that mimic the sailboats out on the fjord.

  In 2005, Coal wall received the Aabenraa Municipality architecture award.

• Couple

  

  Title and year
  Couple, 1975
  
  Material
  Black-painted steel
  
  Artist
  Hans Lembrecht Madsen, b. 1943
  
  Location
  At the entrance to Farverhus, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  Couple is one early example of the local sculptor Hans Lembrecht Madsen’s works for the public space. Two long, black, organic shapes sway elegantly on steel pipes fastened into a large boulder. One shape is slightly taller than the other, yet the openings in them are precisely juxtaposed, as it sometimes happens for couples.

  Couple leaves room for multiple interpretations, given that the sculpture was inspired by a very specific phenomenon of nature: beans in a pod. “If you open a bean pod, you find the beans inside developing across from each other, nestled snugly side by side. That was actually the basic image I had in working with this sculpture,” the artist once explained.

  Hans Lembrecht Madsen, a self-taught sculptor, has since made his mark with several public commissions in the South Jutland region. He is best known for his double work in the traffic circles at motorway exit for Aabenraa and Rødekro: Lifting together and Together we break through, with the official English title Way-Out, Transformation I–II. Other of his sculptures can be viewed near Aabenraa train station, now the art venue BaneGården; on Torvegade street in Padborg; and at the Kongehøjskolen school in Aabenraa.

• Decoration

  

  Title and year
  Decoration, 1995
  
  Materials
  Bronze and granite
  
  Artist
  Ole Hempel, 1944-2007
  
  Location
  The intersection Storegadekrydset, Kliplev
  
  Description
  There is a rich variety of figures to explore in Ole Hempel’s work Decoration, which consists of assembled elements made of various materials and with various surfaces.

  The shifting in levels makes for a dynamic experiential space around the composite sculpture. Some elements are embedded in the flagstone pavement, and there are also figures on pedestals at various heights: a horse, a sundial, the remains of a meal, a church tower, a pair of peaked shoes carelessly set (one lying across the other), and a book visitors can leaf through with texts that throw the sculpture and its creation into perspective.

  The tooled granite pedestals are also an integral part of Decoration. For instance, one tall stela has a rough surface with a smooth relief on it, done in the shape of a cross as a historical reference to Kliplev as a pilgrimage station.

• Eagle

  

  Title and year
  Eagle, 1995
  
  Material
  Bronze
  
  Artist
  Nicolaus Wehding, 1932-2018
  
  Location
  In front of the library, Rødekro Bibliotek og Borgerservice, at Vestergade 20, Rødekro
  
  Description
  The eagle’s sharp talons grip the fish hard, and its wings beat upwards as its beak opens to let out a sharp cry. Is the eagle protecting its prey? Do others nearby want part of its kill?

  In this bronze figure Nicolaus Wehding has cast a powerful, frozen moment from nature’s battleground. Both eagle and fish are life-sized representations. Throughout his career Wehding has worked with animal motifs, often portraying situations that show the animals’ instinctive behaviour. He captures wild creatures “in action” with masterly precision, and one can almost hear the eagle’s piercing call and powerful wingbeats as it lands its catch.

  Wehding’s animal sculptures are richly represented in and around Aabenraa. The town itself is home to several of his works, including Horse getting ready to lie down, Mother hen, and The ring-rider.

• Fountain

  

  Title and year
  Fountain, 1969
  
  Materials
  Mixed materials
  
  Artist
  J. P. Junggreen Have, 1915-2008
  
  Placering
  Mutter Stahlbohms Plads, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  This fountain is a sure favourite among the townspeople of Aabenraa. The pleasant sound of water trickling and splashing from its many cock-eyed spouts gives the square, Mutter Stahlboms Plads, its own distinctive charm. J.P. Junggreen Have’s Fountain consists of a tall copper cylinder fitted with numerous pipes and spigots from which the water issues. These can be seen as a reference partly to the old town well, which had four openings, and partly to Aabenraa’s history as a maritime town, as the fountain also mimics the bilge holes seen in the side of boats and ships.

  The fountain has been part of the public space since the pedestrian shopping street was inaugurated in 1969. On that day, one of its spigots ran with a local soda brand known as Stolly. The sculpture underwent extensive renovation in 2018–2019.

• Freedom

   

  Title and year
  Freedom, 2021
  
  Material
  Natural stones
  
  Artists
  Carina Zunino, b. 1974 & Lena Ignestam, b. 1965 / Zunino Ignestam Studio
  
  Location
  CampusParken, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  Freedom is a sculptural work created by the artists Carina Zunino and Lena Ignestam. It is important to the artists that their sculptures fit in as a natural part of their particular location. That is why in developing Freedom they have involved various parties, including the students’ own campus council, in a number of workshops about life on campus. These have resulted in a narrative about Aabenraa from a student perspective, which is about being free and in motion.

  In their work with Freedom, the artists have been inspired by the students’ narrative and, not least, by the geometrical motifs of the artist Franciska Clausen, . Their sculpture is made from five types of strong, beautiful natural stone, hence blending in as a decorative, organic element among the lawns and trees between the schools and colleges of the Aabenraa campus.

  The natural stones are cut into straight, 6-metre-long lines laid close together. These lines are individual slabs which, together, constitute a sculptural whole. From each line, a circle emerges upwards, like the Sun rising slowly above the horizon and spreading the light of a new day. Always in motion. Always on its way.

  This sculpture was funded by the campus schools and colleges of Aabenraa; the charitable foundations Sydbank Fonden and Fabrikant Mads Clausens Fond; the Danish Arts Foundation; and Aabenraa Municipality.

   

   

   

• Fountain - granite

  

  Title and year
  Fountain, 1991-93
  
  Materials
  Granite
  
  Artist
  Erik Warming, b. 1942
  
  Location
  The reunification park, Genforeningsparken, and the Aabenraa Bibliotek library, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  Erik Warming’s sculpture Fountain consists of two pools connected by a 12-metre-long open water conduit. Until 2020, this fountain stood in the large square, Storetorv, along with the town well. As in the old well, in this newer fountain the water also wells out of four openings. The sculpture has now been moved to Genforeningsparken, the reunification park with its recreative area near the Aabenraa municipal administration building, where its water theme is a handsome match for the new water-jet fountain installed in the open area in front of the historic Folkehjem building. Here, children and other fun-loving visitors can wade and splash, and enjoy the many details in Erik Warming’s sculpture.

  Fountain explores the contrasts between rough and smooth surfaces, as well as the interplay between the colours and textures of the various types of rock. The small pool around the column bears the old signs for the days of the week, and the larger pool bears the 12 signs of the zodiac.

• Gateway

   

  Title and year
  Gateway, 2001
  
  Material
  Granite
  
  Artist
  Hans Lembrecht Madsen, b. 1943
  
  Location
  Torvegade 23, Padborg
  
  Description
  Hans Lembrecht Madsen’s work is richly represented in Aabenraa Municipality. The artist often gives his sculptures clever titles that are based on wordplay and point towards an interpretation.

  At first, viewers of Gateway think the title is meant to be taken at face value. However, the subtle twist lies in the small block of stone embedded among the paving stones in front of the entrance to the Gateway, which the artist refers to as “a tripping stone”. This is his comment on the difficulty one can have getting through the gateway to Denmark, given that – geographically speaking – the Danish–German border and his Gateway are in very close proximity.

• Geese

  
  
  Titel og år
  Gæs, 1998
  
  Materiale
  Bronze
  
  Kunstner
  Thorkild Junggren Have og J. P. Junggren Have
  
  Placering
  Stubbæk Bygade, Stubbæk
  
  Beskrivelse
  På plænen over for gadekæret i Stubbæk Bygade knejser to naturalistiske bronzegæs ved siden af en smukt udført bænk i granit og træ. På bænken har en af gæssene efterladt et bronzeæg. Tilsyneladende tager skulpturens gæster sig godt af ægget, der skinner blankt som en bronzemedalje. Det passer lige til en varm hånd.
  Hænderne har også sat spor på ryggene af de to gæs, der har blanke strejf. Fjerspidser og gåsefødder er det eneste, som står uberørt og derfor har fået kobberets grønne patina.
  
  Lokale og gæster sidder godt på den solide bænk, der er designet af billedhugger Thorkild Junggren Have. Gæs og æg er tegnet af hans far, den legendariske havearkitekt, kunstner og professor J. P. Junggren Have (1915-2008), men støbt og udført i bronze af sønnen. 

• The Gendarme Garden

  

  Gendarmhaven - an urban garden laid out in 2001
  In 2001 a decision was made to create Gendarmhaven – “the Gendarme Garden” – an urban park that is now a popular gathering place in Padborg. It was designed as part of the urban renewal project that transformed Nørregade street into a green avenue that could accommodate pedestrian, wheeled and motorized traffic.

  The playground sculpture Kunsten at gemme sig – at blive set (The art of hiding – being seen)
  In 2004 the artist Jørgen Glud (b. 1942) created a combined sculpture-and-playspace for the Gendarme Garden. It is easy to see that in his art, Jørgen Glud works for and with children. Kunsten at gemme sig – at blive set (The art of hiding – being seen) is a sculpture meant for use; meant to be played in, on, and around. Specifically designed for climbing, crawling, and hiding away, the work invites children in and challenges their imagination.

  This playful, life-affirming aspect stands in stark contrast to the gravity and solemnity that also resides in this space, which is a place of remembrance too. Here, on 9 April 1940, three Danish gendarmes were killed by German advance troops in civilian clothing – an incident commemorated by the memorial found here in the Gendarme Garden.

  When darkness falls, the lighting also affects the nature of the sculpture, changing it from playful to monumental.

  Memorial for the Danish border gendarmes who fell on 9 April 1940
  Prominently placed in the Gendarme Garden stands a memorial raised in honour of the three Danish gendarmes killed by German advance troops that crossed the border on 9 April 1940. All bearing the rank of Overgendarm, “senior gendarme”, their names were J. P. Birk, A. S. Albertsen, and A. A. Hansen.

  The angel motif and the inscription on the memorial stone were designed by sculptor and professor Aksel Einar Utzon-Frank (1888–1955). His artistic idiom is clearly rooted in classicism, in the tradition of Bertel Thorvaldsen (likewise a Dane), but it is far more stylized.

  The verse on the back of the memorial was written by the South Jutland author and folklorist Hansigne Lorenzen (1870–1952), who came from the Ballum area on the west coast. The stone itself was a gift from the gravel processing factory in nearby Smedeby.

  The events of 9 April 1940
  On 9 April 1940, Denmark was occupied by the German armed forces. Early that morning, at 4:15 a.m., uniformed troops marched across the Danish–German border and began moving north.

  However, around 4 a.m. German military intelligence had already dispatched a small group of agents in civilian clothing, sending them north along the railway embankment. Their mission: to secure the railway viaducts in Padborg, which were crucial to the northward progress of the German troops.

  Near the viaduct the agents came upon the three border gendarmes, who were easily recognizable in their blue uniforms. The Danish gendarmes hailed and questioned the Germans, who responded by opening fire and shooting them.

  P. Birk died at the scene. His two peers, A. S. Albertsen and A. A. Hansen, were taken to the hospital in Sønderborg, where they died later that day.

  In this incident, the three senior gendarmes became the first Danes to lose their lives in Germany’s invasion of Denmark and Norway, which was code-named “Operation Weserübung”.

  It is widely believed that the reason the German armed forces regarded the gendarmes as military targets was that the Germans knew about the Danish plan of defence. According to this plan, one of the strategic tasks of the border gendarmerie was to blow up the viaducts in Padborg and the bridge across the Vidåen river near Tønder, seeking to prevent the enemy from advancing.

  What the Germans did not know was that just hours earlier, the gendarmes had been ordered to withdraw – without blowing up the viaducts and without engaging in battle with the German forces, which were far superior.

  Senior gendarmes Albertsen and Hansen are buried at Bov Church cemetery. Birk and Albertsen had both been among the gendarmes transferred, after the border referendum of 1920, from the Kongeåen river position down to the new 1920 border further south. Hansen had not joined the gendarmerie corps until 1922. Because of Birk’s family ties he was buried further north, at Taps Church cemetery near Kolding.

  The Gendarme Garden and the memorial are cared for and maintained by Aabenraa Municipality.

  Further information
  If you would like to learn more about the Danish Border Gendarmerie and its often brutal history as the corps responsible for patrolling and guarding the Danish side of the borderlands, we encourage you to visit the museum here in Padborg – called Museum Oldemorstoft, and located at Bovvej 2, 6330 Padborg. Find details at www.oldemorstoft.dk.

  If you would like to visit Frøslevlejren – the prison camp where during the German occupation border gendarmes and others, including Danish police officers and Resistance fighters – were detained from August 1944 onwards, the web site www.froeslevlejren.dk can help you plan your visit. The address of the camp is Lejrvejen 105, 6330 Padborg.

• Growth

  

  Title and year
  Growth, 1971
  
  Material
  Iron
  
  Artist
  Børge Jørgensen, 1928-1998
  
  Location
  In the grounds of Brundlund Slot, off Dronning Margrethesvej, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  The sculpture Growth powerfully shoots upwards from a slight foundation, as though it just exploded from the soil and is balancing its great curled-in bud on the slender stalk to avoid falling over. Organic and geometrical features intermingle, as the plant’s constrained petals seem ready to burst open and unfurl.

  Børge Jørgensen, originally a painter, moved into sculpture in the 1950s, and in the 1960s he shifted from a figurative to an abstract artistic language. One has the feeling that an abstract sculpture like Growth evolved from his stylization of recognizable elements.

• Horse getting ready to lie down

  

  Title and year
  Horse getting ready to lie down, 1966-1969
  
  Material
  Bronze
  
  Artist
  Nicolaus Wehding, 1932-2018
  
  Location
  Aabenraa Stadion, Vestvejen, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  Horse getting ready to lie down is a detailed representation of a full-grown horse preparing to lie down on the ground. The animal kneels on one knee, shifting its body weight towards the right as its muzzle rests against the ground, while its rump and hind legs are still at full height. This pose presents a line that runs from top to bottom, which the artist has emphasised by placing the sculpture so that the horse’s hindquarters rise up towards the tall trees in the background while its head points down towards the open area in front of it.

  Nicolaus Wehding, who was born and raised in Aabenraa, had a very unusual profile compared to his peers at the royal art academy in Copenhagen, which he attended from 1952 to 1959. He stuck to the figurative sculptural tradition, swimming head-on against the strong currents of abstract art flowing through the art scene . Despite this, he enjoyed considerable recognition for his artistic talent and skill.

  In 1965 he was one of several artists who, as the first batch under a new support programme, received the three-year artist’s stipend from the Danish Arts Foundation. This funding gave him peace and quiet to work, resulting, among other things, in his developing the bronze equine sculpture at Aabenraa Stadion. After its completion, Wehding moved back to Aabenraa, where he continued to work with his figurative art.

   

   

   

   

• House in landscape

  

  Title and year
  House in landscape, 2010
  
  Materials
  Red and black granite
  
  Artist
  Hans Lembrecht Madsen, b. 1943
  
  Location
  The school Kongehøjskolen, Tøndervej, Aabenraa. 
  
  Description
  Between the playground and the administration building at the primary school Kongehøjskolen in Aabenraa stands an iron plateau that is half a metre high. This sculpture was a gift to the school formerly known as Brundlundskolen, which has now merged with another school (Rugkobbelskolen) under the joint name Kongehøjskolen.

  The iron plateau supports a mountain landscape of black granite upon which balances, near its edge, a diminutive unfinished house made of red granite.
  This house has double doors the size of a thimble. The building’s small scale invites the viewer on a trek into the sculpture. Seen through the eyes of a Lilliputian wanderer, the landscape around the house is overwhelming. The mountain looms large, and with its pattern of slippery, sharp-edged triangles the mountainside seems impossible to climb.

  According to the artist the miniature house is a symbol of the school, where people grow and take shape: “The house is lowest and seems unfinished at the one end, while its other end is taller and more fully shaped. This is meant as a symbol of the pupils at the school. They begin at the lower end and come out at the other end, after developing and taking shape,” Hans Lembrecht Madsen explained at the sculpture’s unveiling.

• Kneeling boy

  

  Title and yearKneeling boy, 1942
  
  Material
  Bronze
  
  Artist
  Astrid Noack, 1888-1954
  
  Location
  In the grounds of Brundlund Slot, off Dronning Margrethesvej, Aabenraa

  Description
  Astrid Noack’s boy sculpture is determined and dignified. There are no props, trappings, or dramatic movements we can use to interpret or explain this figure. What we see is a simple, unadorned piece that calls to mind the Egyptian or archaic Greek style, characterized by frontality, stringency, and stylization.

  In many ways Astrid Noack paved the way for other female artists. Notably, she was one of the first Danish women to earn a formal qualification, a “journeyman’s certificate”, in carving. She did so in 1910 after working for a number of years as a porcelain painter in Copenhagen. In 1920, Noack travelled to Paris on a stay funded by a tradesman’s stipend. She became part of the inner circle at the Académie Scandinave and brought the modernist trends back with her when she returned to Denmark.

  She became the first female member of the well-known Copenhagen artist’s cooperative Grønningen.

• Landscape sculpture – Future Past

  

  Title and year
  Landscape sculpture – Future Past
  
  Material
  Fired clay
  
  Artist
  Martin Qvist, 1935-2008
  
  Location
  Sønderborgvej, by the village of Søgård, between Aabenraa and Kruså
  
  Description
  The work Landscape culture – Future Past is encoded with the artist’s own interest in history and his childhood in the nearby brickworks town of Egernsund. The sculpture, which stands near the village of Søgård, south of Aabenraa, was completed shortly before the Danish municipal reform of 2007, which in many places combined formerly independent administrative districts.
  
  Visitors who walk through the village’s brickwork gateposts and stroll to the structure will see the erstwhile town arms of Felsted Municipality, passing on to artistic elements rooted in local history. These tie events and place together with a series of illustrations created using the “local gold” found underground:

  In this work, the artist has used not only newly fired material, but also beautifully glazed, discarded tile materials from the Egernsund brickworks, found in the waters of the nearby fjord. The stroll around the sculpture ends at the town arms of Aabenraa Municipality, linking the past to the future.

  Some find the sculpture’s domed shape reminiscent of the Mongolian yurt or ger, a type of that served as a home and safe base for the nomadic peoples of that region.

   

   

   

   

   

   

• Marie

  

  Title and year
  Marie, 1994
  
  Material
  Granite
  
  Artist
  Trine Maria Høy, b. 1965
  
  Location
  The children’s day-care centre Børnehaven Mariehønen, Lergård 2, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  Each morning, the children who attend the day-care centre Mariehønen (“the ladybird”) are greeted by the low, rounded stone sculpture that stands on a small mound outside the entrance. They love to climb around on it and play.
  
  This sculpture can take lots of wear and tear, for its creator, Trine Maria Høy, chose to use natural rock. Actually, she found a sizeable boulder and changed very little in its naturally rounded shape, except to chisel out a round head with the hair gathered back in a bun. Shallow indentations indicate the figure’s flexed arms, buttocks, and pendulous breasts, which all follow its curved shape. The facial features are indicated subtly and simply, like a historical echo that harks back to the archaic figures of antiquity.
  
  The hinted, indistinct features allow many different interpretations. Among the children and adults who come to Mariehønen daily, some think of the sculpture as the centre’s own granny; or as a pregnant woman; or just as delightful, round-bodied Marie, whose bosom is big enough to sit on.
  
  Marie was the first work Trine Maria Høy made for a public space, and it was purchased by the Aabenraa arts council specifically for the Mariehønen day-care centre.

• Mother hen

  

  Title and year
  Mother hen, 2005
  
  Material
  Bronze
  
  Artist
  Nicolaus Wehding, 1932-2018
  
  Location
  Nicolaus Wehdings Plads, Skrænten, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  For over 50 years the South Jutland sculptor Nicolaus Wehding created works for the squares and public spaces of his native region. In 2005 the town of Aabenraa decided to pay tribute by naming a square in his honour: Nicolaus Wehdings Plads.

  This space is home to his bronze figure Mother hen, a small monument standing on a granite base. The mother hen protectively spreads her wings, allowing her three half-grown chicks to hide their beaks in her breast feathers.

  Unlike the artist’s previous works, this sculpture is much more roughly shaped and has uneven surfaces with marks from hands and tools. In 2002 the art historian Katrine Kampe described the development in his later works for an exhibition of his entire oeuvre held at the museum-castle Brundlund Slot, concluding: “His work has developed in an increasingly expressive direction, where ugliness is parallel to beauty.” Viewers can, themselves, study this development in the many sculptures by Wehding found throughout the South Jutland region.

• Reading woman

  

  Title and year
  Reading woman, 1973
  
  Material
  Bronze
  
  Artist
  Ulf Rasmussen, 1913-1997
  
  Location
  Aabenraa Bibliotek, Haderslevvej, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  The motif of a woman reading was an obvious choice for a sculpture set outside South Jutland’s regional library (Det Sønderjyske Landsbibliotek), established in 1973 and known today as Aabenraa Library (Aabenraa Bibliotek). Ulf Rasmussen liked the monumental style, and he would work and rework the same simple motifs again and again, often portraying birds, animals, plants, or people.

  The sculpture’s location was reconsidered in connection with the Reunification centennial in 2020, when Aabenraa Municipality converted the area in front of the historic Folkehjem building and Aabenraa Library into the Reunification Park (Genforeningsparken). Today, Reading woman sits here as a reminder that the area is more than an important memorial space for the whole South Jutland region; it is also an active, vibrant recreational space.

• Reclining woman looking towards the light

  

  Title and year
  Reclining woman looking towards the light, 1955
  
  Material
  Bronze
  
  Artist
  Gottfred Eickhoff, 1902-1982
  
  Location
  In front of the cultural venue Sønderjyllandshallen, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  The title of this work and the inscription on its base – 4. maj (“the fourth of May”) – both refer to the sculpture’s origins: It was designed to commemorate Denmark’s liberation from German occupation during World War II. The reclining woman gazes serenely into the distance, as though envisioning better days to come, and in a conciliatory gesture she turns her face towards Germany. In all her monumentality she is, first and foremost, gracious and calm: Now it is time to look ahead.

  Reclining woman looking towards the light eminently exemplifies Gottfred Eickhoff’s simple, unornamented, harmonious style. In an age when abstract art was all the rage, Eickhoff held on to figurative art, and his works typically represent natural, down-to-earth people. This work is one of several monumental sculptures Eickhoff made for memorials in Denmark.

   

• Ship and plough

  

  Title and year
  Ship and plough, 2002
  
  Materials
  Granite and water
  
  Artist
  Erik Brandt, b. 1937
  
  Location
  Løjt Storegade, across from the village church in the village Løjt Kirkeby, northeast of Aabenraa

  Description
  Future meets present in this fountain by Erik Brandt. Its title, Ship and plough, is an obvious historical nod to sailing, ship-building, and farming – traditionally the main occupations in the coastal Løjt Land area. The artistic idiom is modern, however, with the granite elements forming a starkly simple composition.

  The largest element in this sculpture is the plough, which stands 2 metres tall, jutting up rather like an abstract ploughshare on a snow plough with rounded edges. The softness stands in contrast to an angular stairway on this element’s thin side, which points towards a circular well several metres away. On the edge of the well sails the sculpture’s ship, a tapered, black, elliptical shape. From the upper part of the ship, water trickles down over its even and uneven surfaces, bringing life to the stringent, modern forms.

  Interestingly, the artist has brought the ages together again by engraving a small sun token, like a rock-carving, at the bottom of the large ploughshare stone.
  

• Signs of life

  

  Title and year
  Signs of life, 1981
  
  Material
  Granite
  
  Artist
  Ole Christensen, 1932-2000
  
  Location
  The old town hall in Bov, just north of Padborg
  
  Description
  Working the hard granite, Ole Christensen has created two soft, curved elements that follow and fuse with one another, and which – depending on the eyes of the beholder – form a bird, a phallos, or a germinating seed. This sculpture and its title refer to nature as a creating, life-giving force.

  Christensen’s work typically begins with an organic object, and although he has not worked in a conventionally figurative way, this sculpture can be seen as an abstraction of something living. The artist has called the shape forth out of the stone by virtue of his intimate knowledge of the possibilities and limitations of his material. In the case of this sculpture, not only the shape but the very surface of the rock itself seems almost irresistibly soft and smooth – as though created this way by nature itself.

  The sculpture was acquired by the Danish Arts Foundation for installation near the town hall of what was, at that time, the Municipality of Bov.

• Splitting

  

  Title and year
  Splitting, 1994
  
  Material
  Halmstad granite from Sweden
  
  Artist
  Søren West, b. 1963
  
  Location
  The residential area Kirsebærhaven, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  Søren West’s sculpture brings a sense of drama to this otherwise peaceful spot, right by the foremost buildings of the residential area Kirsebærhaven. At first glance the title Splitting seems to describe, quite literally, what is going on in this work, which consists of a narrow, 1.5-metre-tall splitting wedge in reddish granite that is stuck into a crevice in the large grey stone that makes up its base.

  The sculpture’s balancing point seems set to tip, because the splitting wedge is so large and stands so tall above the base – an effect that adds even more tension and power to the composition. However, a more detailed investigation of the work reveals that the scene has nothing whatsoever to do with splitting: Markings on the stones show that blasting took place. In this way the artist challenges the classic sculpture tradition by revealing how he has staged and fashioned his work. The process itself is embedded in the base, which is marked by elongated drill holes made when using dynamite. In showing us this, the artist insists on the work being a combination of sculpture and process.

• Standing woman

  

  Title and year
  Standing woman (1939), unveiled 1986 
  
  Material
  Bronze
  
  Artist
  Erling Frederiksen, 1910-1994
  
  Location
  On the corner of Østergade og Hærvejen, Rødekro.
  
  Description
  Erling Frederiksen, whose oeuvre includes paintings, graphic art, and sculptures, was a realist. His work was unpretentious, and it was closely, almost intimately linked to the sort of motifs he preferred to portray: ordinary people getting on with their daily lives and work – for better and for worse.

  He had already finished Standing woman as early as 1939, but it was not cast as a sculpture until 1985, when the Danish Arts Foundation granted the financing and gifted the sculpture to what was then the Municipality of Rødekro. True to form, his motif in this sculpture is a robust, universal figure of an ordinary woman, which, in Frederiksen’s rendition, has a monumental quality that unites composure with an attentive readiness.

• Sun clock

  

  Title and year
  Sun clock, 1998
  
  Materials
  Steel
  
  Artist
  Piet Hein, 1905-1996
  
  Location
  The traffic island on the corner of Jernbanegade and Løgumklostervej, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  What time is it? This is a classic question for travellers. If Sun clock, by the beloved Danish artist, inventor, and humourist Piet Hein, had been here while trains still came all the way to Aabenraa, one could simply have consulted this sculptural timepiece, located on the traffic island just east of the railway station, to find out.

  The sculpture was purchased by Jens Terp Nielsen – then the managing director of the large local manufacturing company Abena – who also owned the old Aabenraa railway station, where, for a time, he ran an exhibition venue called BaneGården Kunst og Kultur. In 1998 the venue held an exhibition of Piet Hein’s work, and in this context Sun clock was gifted to Aabenraa Municipality.

  In addition to drawing, mathematics, design, and philosophy, Piet Hein devised and cultivated a crisp, witty lyrical format he called gruk in Danish (some of which were published in his own English translations as Grooks). He made a Danish–English grook pair to accompany this sculpture design, and both appear on the columnar base of the clock, written on a small plaque that is shaped like a ‘superellipse’ – a signature form Hein also designed:

  Her ses tiden uformummet
  hentet ind fra himmelrummet,
  Helios i eget billed
  i en Helix forestillet. 

  Here is time in heavenly grace,
  Hither brought from outer space,
  Helios uncomplicated
  in a helix concentrated.

   

• The art of hiding – being seen

  

  Title and year
  The art of hiding – being seen, 2004
  
  Material
  Granite
  
  Artist
  Jørgen Glud, b. 1942
  
  Location
  Viaduct in Bov, just north of Padborg
  
  Description
  It is easy to see that in his art, Jørgen Glud works for and with children. The art of hiding – being seen is a sculpture meant for use; meant to be played in, on, and around. Specifically designed for climbing, crawling, and hiding away, the work invites children in and challenges their imagination.

  This playful, life-affirming aspect stands in stark contrast to the gravity and solemnity that also resides in this space, which is also a place of remembrance. Here, just before German forces invaded Denmark on 9 April 1940, three Danish gendarmes were killed by advance troops in civilian clothing – an incident commemorated by in the Gendarme Garden (Gendarmhaven). When darkness falls, the lighting also affects the nature of the sculpture, changing it from playful to monumental.

  This work was integrated in the urban renewal plan carried out in 2001, which redesigned the existing Gendarme Garden and its memorial into an urban park for the town’s residents.

   

• The wall

  

  Title and year 
  The wall, 2009
  
  Materials
  Granite and bronze
  
  Artist
  Keld Moseholm, b. 1936
  
  Location
  Store Torv, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  Runners participating in the Aabenraa Mountain Marathon have a sculpture they can truly relate to. The area around the start and finish line for this annual race is home to The wall, by Keld Moseholm. With warm humour, the sculpture illustrates a phenomenon many runners know from personal experience: “hitting the wall”.

  Two of Keld Moseholm’s distinctive little rotund men, done in bronze, struggle to break through a slab of granite that weighs 5 tonnes. One stout fellow is seen from the back, straining to push his way into the rock, while the other runs out on the other side, upright and with his arms held up high in jubilation. Moseholm’s people do not have buff, well-trained bodies that conform to modern ideals of the perfect athlete. These little, well-fed munchkins, a recurring feature in Moseholm’s work since the 1980s, are always busy, hustling and bustling, hard at work pushing stones over an edge, or pulling each other up a sheer, vertical surface or – as here – defying every law of nature and running through a wall.

  The association that organizes Aabenraa Mountain Marathon donated this sculpture to Aabenraa Municipality as a gift from the townspeople in 2009, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of this running event.

• The cuckoo chick

  

  Title and year
  The cuckoo chick, installed 1986 
  
  Material
  Bronze
  
  Artist
  Gunnar Westman, 1915-1985
  
  Location
  The school Fladhøjskolen, Skovbrynet 2, Rødekro
  
  Description
  When the school children at Fladhøjskolen play around Gunnar Westman’s bronze sculpture The cuckoo chick, they probably give no thought to the intriguing natural phenomenon it portrays. We all know the story of the cuckoo bird, which secretly lays its egg in the nest of a pair of much smaller host birds. As soon as the cuckoo’s egg hatches, the baby intruder disposes of all the other eggs by pushing them over the edge.

  This brutal reality is easily forgotten as one looks at Westman’s sculpture, which portrays a diligent, nurturing adult host bird pushing food into the wide-open beak of a cuckoo chick twice its size. But there is no danger here. The birds balance calmly on an axis that passes up through a bronze pedestal and ends precisely where the host bird perches on the chick’s back. The bronze surface is smooth and rounded, pleasant to the touch.

  This figure by Gunnar Westman is so popular that he has a good handful of cuckoo chicks spread across Denmark.

• The dance around the golden calf

  

  Title and year
  The dance around the golden calf
  
  Material
  Granite and iron
  
  Artist
  Monica Poulsen, b. 1944
  
  Location
  Engvej, Rødekro
  
  Description
  The area around the town of Rødekro is intersected by Oksevejen, the old, time-honoured “ox road”. Since this route had the fewest waterways and fords to cross, it was greatly preferred by the ox traders, and this obviously attracted other traders as well. Natural elements of the route – forests, brooks, pathways, and stepping stones – are portrayed on the sides of the sculpture’s lower section.

  The title is clearly a biblical reference to the Book of Exodus, in which the Israelites worship an image of the Canaanite deity Baal while Moses is away on Mount Sinai speaking to Yahweh, God of the Israelites. They had, in fact, agreed not to worship other gods than Yahweh, but with Moses gone their promise is forgotten. The title plays on the history of the ox trade in Jutland, and on the fact that the ox road was a source of both wealth and greed. The inherent moral danger is symbolized in the way the huge, solid granite ox balances upon a foundation of iron, which in turn rests upon a structure with small, frail-looking wheels.

• The fence

  

  Title and year
  The fence, 1992
  
  Material
  Bronze
  
  Artist
  Bent Sørensen, 1923-2008
  
  Location
  Søndertorv, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  The fence, a gift from the Ny Carlsberg Foundation, is located in the lovely park at the small castle Brundlund Slot. There is ample room here to walk around the sculpture and examine its many shapes and spaces. This is no traditional sculpture with a front and back, but rather a collection of geometrical elements leaning against each other and creating a dynamic form. This makes the sculpture’s expression change as viewers move around it, changing their perspective, and in this way the artist shows how strongly he was inspired by Cubism.

  One of the points of Cubism is to challenge conventional perspective theory, and to show an object from multiple sides at once – making the artistic project more focused on exploring the motif rather than creating a naturalistic rendition.
  

• Two figures on a beach

  

  Title and year
  Two figures on a beach, 1995
  
  Material
  Weathering steel
  
  Artist
  Hans August Andersen, 1926-2003
  
  Location
  Flensborgvej, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  The sculpture Two figures on a beach, which greets those approaching Aabenraa from the south, has the size and clout it takes to match its neighbour, the former county headquarters on the opposite side of the Flensborgvej highway. 

  This sculpture was purchased by what was then the county authority of South Jutland to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Danish municipal reform in 1971. Aabenraa Municipality contributed to the project by making the sculpture site available. After the subsequent Danish municipal reform of 2007, Aabenraa Municipality moved its town hall offices and municipal administration into the large, mocha-coloured, H-shaped complex.

• The King's Gate

  

  Title and year
  The king's gate, 1996
  
  Materials
  Granite and cast iron
  
  Artist
  Erik Heide, b. 1934
  
  Location
  The marketplace between H. P. Hanssens Gade and Madevej, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  The local discipline known as “ring-riding” is a theme often seen in sculptures across South Jutland. At the marketplace in Aabenraa stands Erik Heide’s interpretation of ring-riding, created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Aabenraa county ring-riders’ association (Amtsringriderforeningen) in 1996: a ring-rider’s lance has been driven through two great granite stelae and, on its way through, has captured the coveted ring – making the successful rider the king or queen of the tournament.

  This sculpture sets the stage for the time-honoured ring-rider’s procession, an equestrian parade held every year on the first weekend of July. Here, more than 400 riders and their mounts come together at The king’s gate. The president of the Amtsringriderforening rides through the sculpture’s gate, leading the procession of riders and musicians through the town to the large ring-rider square, Ringriderpladsen, near Hjelm Allé, which serves as the tournament ground. When the marketplace was rebuilt in 2020 as part of Aabenraa’s extensive urban renewal project, a crucial task for the landscape architects was to integrate The king’s gate into the design of the new urban space. Note, for instance, how the shape of the ring mirrors the curved lines of the new mounds in the square, creating a delicate, playful contrast to the monumental granite stelae

• The lyre of space

  

  Title and year
  The lyre of space, 1999
  
  Material
  Steel
  
  Artist
  Piet Hein, 1905-1996
  
  Location
  Exit 76 on motorway E45
  
  Description
  A dream long held by the Danish designer and humourist Piet Hein came true, albeit posthumously, after more than 100 sponsors enabled the enlargement, by a factor of 20, of a mobile he called The lyre of space – bringing it to life anew in sculptural form. It is an impressive sight for viewers driving towards Hein’s poetic version of the classical stringed lyre, then proceeding around the sculpture in the traffic circle in which it stands.

  The lyre sculpture is at once delicate and powerful, calm and dynamic and geometrical. The centrifugal force in its rounded shape speaks to the movement of the vehicles driving around it. But when for a moment the traffic dies down, an attentive observer may be fortunate enough to hear the wind strumming the strings of the great lyre.

• The only one

  

  Title and year
  The only one, 1988
  
  Material
  Painted weathering steel
  
  Artist
  Harvey Martin, b. 1942
  
  Location
  The street corner of Stationsvej and Aabenraavej junction, Tinglev
  
  Description
  The title of this work may make some viewers see parts of a broken heart, which Cupid’s arrow is trying to keep together: The angle at the bottom has landed on the top, and the heart’s two semicircles are being pulled apart. However, the artist’s own intention is to present an abstraction of Christ nailed to the cross, the spike cutting through the flesh of his palm. The only one uses a monumental, figuratively simplified artistic language that is well suited to the robustness of one of Martin’s favourite materials: weathering steel.

• The ring-rider

  

  Title and year
  The ring-rider, 1991
  
  Material
  Bronze
  
  Artist
  Nikolaus Wehding, 1932-2018
  
  Location
  In the grounds of Brundlund Slot, off Dronning Margrethesvej, Aabenraa.
  
  Description
  Visitors to South Jutland find ring-riding quite an exotic local spectacle. Meanwhile, long-time residents consider the region’s numerous ring-rider events and tournaments to be a natural part of life, just like the local cabbage sausages and crisp knepkage biscuits. The great cultural importance of ring-riding is evidenced by the many sculptural interpretations of such activities seen throughout the South Jutland region.

  Wehding’s sculpture shows a ring-rider urging his horse into action. The dynamism is clear, and anyone familiar with this popular South Jutland sport is aware that in just a moment the rider must try to run his lance through a small ring suspended high above. The rider who captures the most rings is celebrated as the king or queen of the tournament.

  Wehding used a figurative, classical artistic idiom in his works, most often with humans and animals as his theme. He did many commissions for public artworks, several of which are found in his home town of Aabenraa.

• The rock beast

  

  Title and year
  The rock beast, 1996
  
  Materials
  Moseløkke granite from the island of Bornholm
  
  Artist
  Claus Ørntoft, b. 1959
  
  Location
  The old town hall in Rådhusgade i Aabenraa
  
  Description
  There is a concentrated power in Claus Ørntoft’s sculpture The rock beast, which dwells on the steps of the old town hall in the heart of Aabenraa. Children who jump on its back for a ride, newlyweds passing by, shoppers laughing and talking – The rock beast takes the hustle and bustle of urban life with unshakable calm.

  This beast, which is thousands of years old, has been inspired by the Icelandic sagas and Nordic mythology. The artist has exposed the beast in the ancient granite, almost as if he had excavated some prehistoric creature, giving it new life. The same could be said of the steps on which it crouches, which are fashioned from the same granite as The rock beast itself. Ørntoft’s choice of material and form bear witness to another important source of inspiration: the Romanesque figures of chiselled rock found in Danish medieval churches.

• The son

  

  Title and year
  The son, 1939-40
  
  Materials
  Granite from the island of Bornholm
  
  Artists
  Axel Poulsen, 1887-1972
  
  Location
  Genforeningsparken, Haderslevvej 7, Aabenraa.
  
  Description
  Poetry and pathos are recurring features in the work of the sculptor Axel Poulsen, making him the obvious choice for the commissioning of several memorials. These include the Reunification Monument at Fælledparken commons in Copenhagen, and the monuments for fallen soldiers at Mindeparken memorial park in rhus and Mindelunden memorial grove in Ryvangen, north of Copenhagen.

  The son is also a memorial, in this case raised in honour of H.P. Hanssen (1867–1942), a prominent “Danish-minded” politician who championed the struggle to reunify South Jutland with Denmark. The main thrust of his work was to ensure that the redrawing of the Danish–German border be based on the opinions of the region’s population, and not on purely political agreements. On the statue’s base, above a relief of Hanssen’s face, an inscription reads (here with our translation):

  Trofast Søn af Danmark
  Modigt han i ærlig kamp
  Moders Sag har værnet

  Faithful son of Denmark
  valiant in honest battle
  he was his Mother’s shield

  In 2020, the monument was moved to the newly established Reunification Park (Genforeningsparken) to commemorate the centennial of the referendum that once again made South Jutland a part of Denmark. The new park brings the balcony of the Folkehjem building into focus, metaphorically as part of the region’s poignant historical narrative, and physically as an architectural highlight: In 1918, from this balcony, H.P. Hanssen announced to the citizens assembled there in tense anticipation that the “Aabenraa Resolution” meant that a regional referendum would be held about redrawing the border – which could (and did) lead to the region’s reunification with Denmark.

• The town well

  

  Title and year 
  The town well, 1996 

  Materials
  Black diabase, red granite, and Moseløkke granite from Bornholm

  Artists
  Jesper Kjærgaard, Erik Dahlgreen og Kirsten Lausten

  Location
  The marketplace between H. P. Hanssens Gade and Madevej, Aabenraa

  Description
  In 1996 the pedestrian shopping street, Gågaden, in Aabenraa was renovated. That same year the town’s Water Supply Authority celebrated its 200th anniversary. The occasion was commemorated with this fountain, collaboratively designed by two architects and an engineer from Aabenraa Municipality.

  The sculpture illustrates how water was originally led from “gallows hill” (Galgebakken) north of the town to seven fountain wells in the town centre: The black slice of granite represents a slice of the hills that is intersected by a water vein. The water wells up to the surface in the round, red pool of the well, then runs along an inclined conduit and flows naturally down to the seven granite bollards, which symbolize the town’s seven original fountain wells. Diabase – a dark, fine-grained, hard type of rock – was formerly known under the commercial name “black granite” and is highly sought-after by artists around the world for its superb quality.

• The watchman

  

  Title and year
  The watchman, 1947
  
  Materials
  Granite
  
  Artist
  J. P. Junggreen Have, 1915-2008
  
  Location
  Vægterpladsen, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  At the site of this sculpture, until 1827, stood three town watchmen’s houses. Originally located at the centre of “the watchman’s square” (Vægterpladsen), the sculpture had to yield to motorized traffic and was incorporated into the sidewalk, with its special rounded curb stone.

  The sculpture’s artistic idiom is simple and monumental. All details, even the watchman’s faithful dog, blend into its large rounded shape. The artist has captured the watchman at the very moment when he stops on his rounds to sing out the verse of the hour. He is calm and composed, holding his round-headed mace in his arms against his stout body. The watchman makes sure all is peaceful and orderly. The town can rely on him.

• Three birds

  
  
  Titel og år
  Tre fugle, 1990
  
  Materialer
  Emalje på stål
  
  Kunstner
  Hanne G. Salamon, 1935-2015
  
  Placering
  Kirsebærhaven, Aabenraa
  
  Beskrivelse
  Den kulørte fuglemobile er et pejlemærke for de stedkendte i boligforeningen Kirsebærhaven, men nytilkomne skal kigge godt efter, før de finder de tre fugle, der duver i det fri, højt oppe under tagskægget i en passage mellem to husgavle. Man kan gå op ad trappen til en svalegang, hvis man vil studere værket tæt på. Og helt tæt på bliver det tydeligt, at fuglene svømmer af sted. De ser ikke ud til at have travlt, for den midterste fugl har tid til at dreje halsen og blinke med sit ene øje.

  Udover disse enkelte detaljer er fuglene groft stiliserede. Kunstneren har bygget deres kroppe lagvist op af kantede stålplader. Ydersiderne forestiller et fjerdragtsmønster, der er malet og brændt fast med emaljefarver. Farverne holder sig i dueblå, rustorange, sorte og hvide afgrænsede felter, så de får et grafisk præg. Kunstneren, der var uddannet både grafiker og maler, har blandet det grafiske med aftryk med grove penselstrøg, som giver fladerne en stoflig kvalitet.

• We lift together / Together we break through

   

  Title and year
  We lift together & Together we break through, 1995
  (Way-Out, Transformation I-II)
  
  Materials
  Red granite and steel
  

  Artist
  Hans Lembrecht Madsen, b. 1943
  
  Location
  The two traffic circles at Exit 70b on motorway E45
  
  Description
  On the road between Aabenraa and Rødekro stands a huge block of granite, elevated on pillars of steel. It rises and falls relative to the horizon, depending on whether the viewer is moving uphill or downhill in the undulating terrain.

  This sculpture, called We lift together, stands on the central mound in the easternmost traffic circle on the road between Rødekro and Aabenraa. Its counterpart, Together we break through, stands just a few hundred metres to the west in the traffic circle at the end of the road nearest Rødekro. They lead us from these towns out into the world, onto the busy E45 motorway, and at the same time they lead the world to us. They also link Aabenraa and Rødekro, two towns that are gradually expanding towards one another and melting together, based on their shared dream of growth and development. The titles of the two sculptures refer specifically to this shared vision.

  The very composition of the two pieces, both done in red granite and glittering steel pipes, is symbolic: The steel pipes are the active elements carrying out the sculptures’ intentions, as together they “lift” and “break through”, while the granite is a material manifestation of the bond between the two towns.

   

   

• Viaduct-bench-suitcase

  

  Title and year
  Viaduct-bench-suitcase, 1996
  
  Materials
  Red and black granite
  
  Artist
  Hans Lembrecht Madsen, b. 1943
  
  Location
  Near the old railway station, on Jernbanegade, Aabenraa
  
  Description
  A bench, a suitcase, and part of a viaduct. Someone is on their way. Who they are and where they are going, we do not know – and therein lies the tension between the elements in this sculpture. Hans Lembrecht Madsen’s group work deals with the memory of an urban space that once existed around the Aabenraa railway, which ran as a branch line of the Vamdrup–Padborg narrow-gauge railway from 1868 to 1971. This branch line carried passengers between Rødekro and Aabenraa. Here, many a traveller sat with their luggage, waiting for a connection from Aabenraa railway station to the world beyond.

  The local branch line is no longer in operation, but the yellow station building – the oldest surviving railway station in South Jutland – is listed as a protected heritage site. The sculpture’s heavy materials help us recall bygone times. You, as a viewer, can immerse yourself in history by sitting down on the bench and imagining yourself in 1910, waiting for the next outbound train. Where would you be going?

• Wind in the sails

  

  Title and year
  Wind in the sails, 2006
  
  Material
  Steel
  
  Artist
  Hans Günter Hansen, 1922-2013
  
  Location
  Sønderborgvej, Felsted
  
  Description
  A local village initiative, led by the residents of Felsted themselves, made it possible to realize a sculpture done after an idea conceived by the local artist Günter Hansen, and realized by the local craftsman Jørn Smej – which simply means “Jørn blacksmith” in the local dialect.

  The composition, consisting of three triangular sheets of iron placed on a base, soon took on the desired rust-red colour. The vertical sheets are parallel and set in a slightly staggered pattern, giving the viewer an impression of three sails racing forward together, heading for new horizons and new adventures.

  Günter Hansen was chiefly known for his paintings, in which he gradually moved from the naturalistic to a more stylized artistic idiom where geometric figures occasionally cropped up among his range of motifs – as they do here in Wind in the sails.

• 8 acrylic sheets

  

  Title and year
  8 acrylic sheets, 1996
  
  Material
  Plastic foil on acryllic sheets
  
  Artist
  Ulla Alberg, 1934-2021
  
  Location
  Two viaducts on Nørregade, Padborg
  
  Description
  Padborg is a small border and transit community. It is a gateway out into the wider world. A place where journeys can begin. Ulla Alberg has interpreted this outward-looking gaze, facing the world, in the four decorative sheets travellers see on the two railway viaducts in Padborg when they leave town. Under the collective title Handel og trafik (Commerce and traffic) she depicts remote locations with iconic motifs such as the Eiffel Tower and the Acropolis, gondolas, onion-shaped turrets, and bridges that span deep gorges.

  Inversely, the four sheets travellers meet when arriving to Padborg bear the collective title Kunst og ultur (Art and culture), and they illustrate local culture elements, such as the distinctive profile of the church, and Padborg’s pyramid-shaped museum.

  The artist’s motifs, which are stylized and rendered in clear colour fields, are almost cartoon-like in their simplicity.