Bodenseereiter Fountain (Peter Lenk)

The "Lake Constance Rider" fountain by sculptor Peter Lenk in Überlingen on Lake Constance was erected in 1999. It is primarily known as a caricature and grotesque memorial to the local poet Martin Walser.Lenk's execution depicts a horse reluctantly striding forward, with Martin Walser on it, joyless and rigid, holding the reins. Instead of boots, he wears ice skates.Peter Lenk explains:
(Quote:) "Poet – entitled to immortality – figure skater on horseback on the frozen lakes of German history. He only dismounts when the ice becomes dangerously thin, then he performs his pirouettes."He is referring to the controversy surrounding Walser's "Paulskirche speech" upon accepting the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade on October 11, 1998.You can think what you will of it. In any case, it polarizes.

In 1999, the city council commissioned the sculptor Peter Lenk (*1947) to create a fountain for the landing stage, based on a clay model. The theme was to be an incident in which the Alsatian postmaster Andreas Egglisperger, during a frozen lake in early January 1573, unknowingly rode from the Swiss shore across Lake Constance to Überlingen. This story had already inspired Gustav Schwab (1792-1850) to write his ballad "The Rider and Lake Constance."The fountain's unveiling was a great surprise: the horse was not a historical figure, but Martin Walser (1927-2023) – one of the most important German writers of the 20th century and a citizen of Überlingen since 1968. With his skates on, the artist, known for his satires, takes aim at Martin Walser, who, with his views, sometimes treads on the slippery slope of German history.The scandal, which reverberated far beyond the city, prompted the two local financial institutions to withdraw their financing commitments. Portraits of the then directors, depicted as "Lurch" and "Fischdrücker," are part of the fountain basin.

Further information can be found at the following link:
ueberlingen-bodensee.de/brunnen-der-bodenseereiter