hortus liberatus, merzig
| catalogue number: | hdv 2000.112.1 |
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| date created: | 1999-2000 |
| classification: | installations |
| work type: | environment |
| medium: | in the 'Park der Andersdenkenden', a gate between hedges, decorated with gilded tops and the golden words 'to be to be' between the bars closes the 'hortus liberatus', the liberated garden, the area of the former Protestant cemetery of the psychiatric institution on which inmates who died from its founding in 1879 until 1979 were buried. herman de vries wanted to create a sanctuary here, another 'holy place', in this case a place left to nature that no longer can be accessed by humans in the future. The garden should be free, free from human interference and a reminder of people who were not allowed to live their lives. The blacksmith Fred Schmalz from Knetzgau made the grille using traditional blacksmith work. 14 vertical rods with gold-plated ends are inserted into two crossbars made of square iron with square thorned openings. The gold-plated square iron lettering is welded on |
| dimensions: | gate 2.10 × 2 m. |
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| current repository: | 'Park der Andersdenkenden', Haus am Münchberg at the Gustav-Regler-Zentrum, Trierer Straße 148, Merzig |
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| comment: | |
| photo/scan: | Inge Plettenberg, Merzig and Margarete Wagner-Grill, Merzig (text) |
| rights & reproduction: | herman de vries |
published references
| monograph | herman de vries (Galerie Aline Vidal/Anthése : Paris 2000) image repr. on page 86. |
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| monograph | Wolfgang Aull, die sanctuarien von herman de vries (Eschenau 2025) 70-77 (ill.). |