Public Art, Cologne

Born in Cologne and mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer was one of the most important figures of post-war German history. He was the first German chancellor after WW2, leading the the German government from 1949 - 1967 and firmly establishing Germany within the framework of European Union and NATO. The monument stands next to the church St. Aposteln, a short walk from the Rudolfplatz.

The owners of a somewhat nondecript office building near the Neumarket in Cologne ordered a piece of are from the artist Claus Olenburg back in 2001.

His rather jokey ice cream stuck on the corner with the ice-cream running down the sides of the building is certain to raise a smile. It would have been even funnier if the wrong end of the cornet had been bitten off first ! - I always used to do that as a kid, much to the annoyance of my parents.

Enjoy it. Move on, that's my feeling about the piece. but inevitably the 'art intelligensia' have to write some complete tosh about it : Here is an example :

"The Cone is a form between sculpture and architecture. It echoes the spires of the Cathedral and other churches that project above the buildings of Cologne and are the most characteristic shapes in the skyline. But, the Cone differs in being slanted, and the melting ice cream, running down the sides of the building's glass walls, is a sign of evanescence rather than eternity."

Coosje van Bruggen

Sourbugger says " That's cobblers, it's just an ice cream code writ large, and hang about, where's the bleeding flake in it ?"

You can find that sculpture from Odo Rumpf on the Rhine river bank between the Maritim Hotel and the Chocolate Museum.