A monument to Horst Schimanski

A person whose likeness is cast in bronze and placed in a public square must have accomplished something important in the past. In North Rhine-Westphalia there is a whole range of sculptures of dazzling personalities, which are placed on plinths or simply placed on the pavement to keep the memory of their achievements alive.

Konrad Adenauer is honored several times. His head stands in front of the former Federal Chancellery in Bonn, and he can be seen as a whole figure in front of the Church of St. Apostles in Cologne. The former Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johannes Rau, was parked in front of the Villa Horion in Düsseldorf, the founder of the theater Willy Millowitsch is sitting on a bench in Cologne, and the artist supporter Mutter Ey is standing at attention in Düsseldorf's old town. One could easily find other examples: The most recent one is in Duisburg-Ruhrort – a bronze bust by Horst Schimanski.

Although the popular crime scene inspector with the grubby jacket is a fictional person, the people of the Ruhr area have simply adopted the berserker played by Götz George as one of them. When looking at the "Schimmi" bust, the question arises: Why on earth does the commissioner have to look so stupid? The raw power and the chubby way with which he moved people in the 80s were simply driven out of plastic.

Unfortunately, most memorial sculptures lack personal strengths and a charismatic appearance. The Cologne Adenauer offers only a pathetic image. The politician's head is much too small - one might think that the man lacked brains. Johannes Rau also looks a bit stupid – although the proportions between head and body are right here, the figure on the low base is too small overall, downright puny.

Memorial sculptures are almost always in public space. That means their placement must be approved by the city, state, or federal government. And even if the public purse does not pay for the works from taxes, but private fans finance the sculptures - as is the case with Millowitsch or Schimanski, shouldn't there be someone who pays attention to the quality of the works of art?

Where are the heads of cultural affairs, the museum people, the art commissions that deal with the works professionally, examine the so-called gifts, approve them or even reject them. In the case of Horst Schimanski, someone might have had the liberating idea of ​​commemorating the jacket alone.