Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

In 1476 the facade of the town hall was built in the rare late Gothic Flemish style, with the stone figures of seven saints: the Virgin Mary, the Three Kings, plus the saints Willibrord, Christopher and Anthoniy. The facade was renovated in 1858. Six of the medieval saints were replaced by secular rulers (from left to right): The Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg, Duke Adolf I of Cleves, Emperor Charlemagne, St. Willibrord (remained), King Rudolf I of Habsburg, Count Dietrich VIII of Cleves, Elector Johann Sigismund of Brandenburg.
In February 1945 the town hall was almost completely destroyed in three Allied bombing raids.
The historically unique facade was reconstructed in Udelfang sandstone under the leadership of the Wesel Historical Town Hall Foundation. The foundation stone was laid on 28 October 2007, construction of the facade began in 2010 and the handover was on 18 September 2011. The last statues were finished in 2017.

Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg (Cölln an der Spree 1620 - Potsdam 1688) Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia from 1640 until his death (Wikipedia).

Herzog Adolf I. von Kleve / Duke Adolph I, Duke of Cleves (1373 - Oostburg, Zeeland, 1448) Count of Cleves, during his reign Cleves was raised to a Duchy in 1417 (Wikipedia).

Karl der Große / Emperor Charlemagne (unknown place 742 - Aachen 814), King of the Franks (since 768) and Emperor (since 800) (Wikipedia).

St. Willibrord (c. 658-739), missionary saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first Bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg (Wikipedia).

Rudolf I. von Habsburg / Rudolf I of Habsburg (1218 - Speyer 1219) The first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg (Wikipedia).

Graf Dietrich III. von Kleve / Count Dietrich VIII of Kleve (1160/70-before 1202) Count of Cleves from 1172 through 1188 (Wikipedia).

Kurfürst Johann Sigismund von Brandenburg / Elector Johann Sigismund of Brandenburg (Halle 1572 - Berlin 1619) Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg; in 1609 heir to the Duchy of Cleves (Wikipedia).

Sources & Information

• Stadt Wesel, Die erste spätgotisch-flämische Rekonstruktion in Deutschland.

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Location (N 51°39'24" - E 6°36'40")

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