Lost in thought is this boy. This is the Sitzender Junge Statue. He sits here on Erich-Weinert-Straße in Berlin. The Sitzender Junge Statue is a bronze sculpture of a naked boy. Werner Stötzer created it.
The Sitzender Junge Statue sits on a stone plinth. His legs are stretched out in front of him. He props himself up with both hands. He looks at the sky with a curious gaze.
Werner Stötzer modeled the sculpture in 1956. It was cast in bronze in 1968. It was first erected at the corner of Greifswalder Straße. That’s at the corner of Naugarder Straße. The current composition with the modified seat base dates from 2000.
The Sitzender Junge statue invites calm. It is a convincingly formulated sculpture. Stötzer himself recalled many years after its creation. He visited Waldemar Grzimek’s studio. He sat down in front of a prototype of a boy’s sculpture. He had modeled it before creating the cast.
The mold itself was very boring. It irritated him. One Saturday he let it go after drinking. He took an ax. He struck the breast of the form. The head suddenly lifted. It looked up. It was good.
Then there was an exhibition. He showed the boy. Neues Deutschland wrote that the boy was looking at Sputnik. It was wonderful. Yes, it was a boy looking at Sputnik.
Werner Stötzer was born in Sonnenberg in 1931. He died in Altlangsow in 2010. From 1949 to 1951 he studied at the University of Architecture and Fine Arts in Weimar. From 1951 to 1953 he continued his studies at the University of Fine Arts in Dresden. From 1954 to 1958 he attended the master class with Gustav Seitz at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. From 1958 he was an independent artist. From 1975 to 1978 he was a visiting lecturer at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art. From 1987 to 1990 he was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in the GDR.
This redhead boy seems to want to give his full attention to the flight of birds. Or maybe he is staring at modern technology in the sky. Who as a child did not want to be a pilot? After all, only a child can be as carefree as this seated boy. A slight smile on his face suggests remembering our own childhood.
The Sitzender Junge Statue reminds us of simpler times. It reminds us of childhood dreams. It is a reminder to look up.