1984 1987
View from south east
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Stern of the ship: a female fool hung with jewellery as a figurehead
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Detail
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
from left tp right_ female fool as figurehead, hellhound, behind it death with fool's clapper drives Eve and Adam from the ship
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Death with a fool´s clapper and Eve
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Death with a fool´s clapper, in front of it hellhound
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2020, Theo Noll
1984 1987
from left to tight: hellhound, Eve and Adam, above it a crow, at the bottom right Kain
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2020, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Adam, detail
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Kain as a child with a knife, fool´s face with a clamp
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Hull, south side
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Hull, south side
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Detail with artist´s signature
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2020, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Fool´s face with octopus arms and clamp at the bow of the ship
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2020, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Bow of the ship
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2020, Theo Noll
1984 1987
View from the front
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2020, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Depiction of violence: Man with club
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
North side
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
North west side with the figures of technology and resignation
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Depiction of resignation
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Hull with inscription, north side
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Hull with inscription, north side
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Donor board in front of the sculpture
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Water waves as base, view from the south
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Water waves as base, view from the north
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg, Plobenhofstraße Spitalgasse
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2021, Theo Noll
1984 1987
Originally the Sip of Fools was designed as a fountain/ see for comparison the History Column in Coblenz
The Ship of Fools
1984 - 1987
Cast: Herbich
Originally the sculpture was designed as a fountain
(for comparison see Historienbrunnen in Koblenz)
A fool is he who donates a memorial, for he will heavily be criticized for the endowment, He could have saved the trouble and the money ,
(Kurt Klutentreter)
The Ship of Fools is a scripture by Sebastian Brant from 1495 in which he describes the world as a ship which is steered to ruin by fools. This idea fascinated me. On the basis of this topic I could make visible and illustrate our fears of nature being destroyed by technical overexploitation or by extinction of life by nuclear disasters. And, apart from that, what is a better symbol than a ship of fools for our art business and the politicians strutting around smugly in it.
The fool´s face with the clamp cap in this context means bad luck anyhow, and the arms of the octopus remind of the snakes an the ancient head of Medusa: a connection of medieval and ancient allegories, which are typical for renaissanve literatur and the epic poem by Brant. As I attached a bejewelled female fool´s head to the stern of the ship as well the ship actually became directionless, foreward and backward finally are the same. What could more aptly characterise the situation of "progress"?"
"The withered tree of knowledge as the mast of the ship of fools, as an allegory of withered reason, thus brought me to the image of a second expulsion of people and all living things from this earth into nothingness: the central figure of my new design became Death wielding the clap of fools like a scythe, driving Adam and Eve with their little murderer son Cain out of the ship that means the world. I then assigned violence, avarice and resignation to them as allegories of the worst folly. (...)
To death I assigned the hound of hell. From the dead tree - also a symbol for the dying of plants - a crow rises. Plants People and animals leave this ark symbolising the world or are driven out of it. That should be the message."(Jürgen Weber)
Inscription on the north side:
A fool is he who considers it to be a miracle that God now punishes the world and sends plagues and pestilence even though we still are Christians.
(first four lines from God sends Plague and Punishment from The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
VIOLENCE +TECCHOLOGY AND RESIGNATION
Inscription on the south side:
A fool is he who hears a lot of good things, but nevertheless does not become any wiser, who wishes to gain lots of experience, but nevertheless does not want to become a better person.
(first four lines from: Fool yesterday as today from the Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant)
DESTROY LIFE AND THE DEATH LAUGHS HIS HEAD OF:
Literature:
- Das Ehekarussell, Jürgen Weber, Verlag M. Edelmann, Nürnberg, 1985
- Das Narrenschiff, Kunst ohne Kompass, Universitas Verlag, München, 1994
Location: Nürnberg und Koblenz
Design: Weber, Jürgen
Realization: Weber, Jürgen
Depicted: Klutentreter, Kurt
Material: Bronze
photo 2019/2021, Theo Noll
Please let us know your opinion about our website, the museum, our idea or any other evaluation. We shall be please about any comments and suggestions..