Guardians of the Goitzsche

Near the Paupitzscher See, the landscape art object "Guardian of the Goitzsche" impressively symbolizes the preservation of what was beautiful and valuable in the Goitzsche. The ten larger-than-life steel guys with red breastplates and red flags are arranged in a circle and, together with the surrounding nature, form an impressive motif.What makes the Goitzsche so extraordinary is the conscious transformation into the world's largest art project, which was created in the course of the EXPO 2000 world exhibition. The first erected and best-known symbol is the "gauge tower". With its 26 m, it spirals into the sky and, after 144 steps, allows a special view of the surrounding landscape.The 28 m high "Bitterfelder Bogen", the city's landmark, offers the best view. This impressive structure represents the connection between the past and future of the former mining region. It is enthroned on the Bitterfeld mountain and offers visitors a diverse panorama of Bitterfeld-Wolfen and the fascinating Goitzsche lake region.Source: anhalt-bitterfeld.de/de/region-bitterfeldwolfen/landschaftskunst-an-der-goitzsche.html

A tribute to the early, exemplary work of the Anhalt Prince Leopold III. Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau is in the work of the Düsseldorf artist Anatol Herzfeld again. Leopold III. put his visions of the unity of garden and park design, architecture as well as economic, social and pedagogical concerns into action.
"The Guardians of the Goitzsche" are to watch over the ecologically accentuated reorganization of the open-cast mining landscape. Ten 2.10-meter iron guys with red breast shield and red flags are posted around a large boulder with the inscription "Franz". Around the guards, the 70-year-old artist has grouped a circle of 45 ramblings. Wood-and-white children provided the motifs with their pictures of their homeland and their everyday life, which Herzfeld carved into the boulders together with a stonemason. These pictures of the children will tell in the distant future of the transformation of the place and the landscape.
Source zweckverband-goitzsche.de/die-goitzsche/kulturlandschaft/die-waechter.html

The 10 figures, silently keeping watch in a circle, radiate a rusty dignity, so that one likes to take a break here.