I am delighted that in 2026 I will be able to realise my design for the sculpture CALLING FOR PEACE for the town of Weinheim on the Baden Bergstrasse. It will be a special project, because I have deliberately decided to involve young people in shaping this work. The realisation began with a kick-off event on 5 March 2026.
To mark its 20th anniversary and in the spirit of the Baden-Württemberg Heimattage, the Bürgerstiftung Weinheim announced its art competition in 2025. Jürgen Osuchowski, chairman of the foundation, explains the board's thinking: “A home is unthinkable without peace.” The foundation invited eleven artists “who have made a name for themselves with works of art in outdoor spaces” to design a peace sculpture for the town of Weinheim. The sculpture is to be placed in the Rosenanlage / Freudenbergstrasse in Weinheim as the starting point of a “Path of Remembrance”.
In the end, eight designs were put before the jury, among them my concept for CALLING FOR PEACE. Despite the fairly large number of entries, the jury's decision was unanimous. Jürgen Osuchowski, himself a member of the jury, was pleased with the clear result:
“The aesthetics of the peace sculpture ‘Calling for Peace’ and the feasibility of all the requirements of the competition brief were decisive for the unanimous vote. The work of art radiates positivity and at the same time, through its open construction, shows how fragile peace is in our world.”
The concept of “Calling for Peace”
For CALLING FOR PEACE I had originally planned two workshop days with young people from Weinheim. What happened instead moved me deeply: committed teachers took the joint work with their pupils into their own lessons. There they explored questions such as
- What does peace – really – mean?
- What does a peaceful world look like?
- What kind of world do we want to live in?
In writing workshops, poetry slams, conversations and other forms of expression, texts, poetry and statements on the theme of peace were created – powerfully questioning, demanding, visionary.
Again and again during this time we met – the Bürgerstiftung Weinheim, the teachers and I. At a final meeting the pupils presented their work.
In the next step, these voices of young people will be condensed into bands of text. They will be visualised in 5 mm thick stainless steel bands of letters. The bands will be bent and joined together to form an open sphere.
This open sphere, which will be installed in the Rosenanlage / Freudenbergstrasse in Weinheim, is more than an object. It is a symbol of connection, of unity, of our planet. Of art as a language beyond separation. Of thoughts that do not pass. The sphere will stand visibly in public space – as the voice of a young generation, as a manifesto of hope and as an invitation to dialogue.
A QR code extends the work into a digital space
The documentation of the creative processes offers impulses for this dialogue. A QR code on the sculpture will open access to a virtual space in which the complete texts and other contributions, the background and the voices from the creative process are preserved. In this context I do not see the work of art as a finished answer, but as a call into the future. I would be delighted if it became the starting point for further encounters and events that help to create peace every day and to live together. For nothing is more necessary in these times than to create a new reality together with young people.
Starting point for the “Path of Remembrance”
Since October 2026 CALLING FOR PEACE has stood in the Rosenanlage / Freudenbergstrasse in Weinheim. The sculpture is part of the “Path of Remembrance”, which is to lead past the memorial stone at Weinheim town hall (DBS project for the Jews deported from Weinheim), the memorial at the district court on the site of the former synagogue in Ehretstraße, the war memorial in Bahnhofstraße and the main cemetery (graves of soldiers and forced labourers) to the memorial on the former grounds of the GRN care centre in the park behind the music school (still to be realised).
Donations for the peace project
Incidentally, the realisation of the work of art and of the “Path of Remembrance” is being financed through donations. More than half of the funds have already been raised. This, too, shows the great response the initiative of the Bürgerstiftung Weinheim has met with.
Anyone who would also like to support the project can contribute with a donation. Every amount is welcome to the Bürgerstiftung Weinheim:
Donation account of the Bürgerstiftung Weinheim
IBAN: DE64 6709 2300 0003 7770 06
BIC: GENODE61WNM
Reference: Friedensplastik