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Kevelaer
Kreis Kleve Nordrhein-Westfalen Kapellenplatz
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Kevelaerer ApokalypseKevelaer Apocalypse |
Bert Gerresheim
2002 |
The bronze relief 'Kevelaer Apocalypse' above the main portal of St. Mary's Basilica was consecrated in 2002. It took five years before the design by the artist Bert Gerresheim was realized. During this time, the circle of friends of the marital city of Kevelaer had to collect most of the money for the art work, which was to commemorate the new millennium.
Gerresheim had suggested that in the monumental work the end of time and the world - a theme that has been often portrayed in history - should be implemented in a modern form. As in the portals of Romanesque and Gothic churches, saints and sinners are called to the last judgment. On Gerresheim's relief many personalities of the 20th century are depicted, for example Mother Theresa and Edith Stein, but also Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. Osama bin Laden was added to the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attack.
Each of the 260 figures was preformed in wax by Gerresheim and fitted into a model of the relief. The figures and parts were cast in bronze, then they were put together to form the whole. The technical problems of attaching five tons of bronze securely to the facade seemed to be inextricable at times (free translation of the text on Villa Merländer).
 Christus / Christ |
 Maria / St. Mary |
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