When next you visit Rottweil...
| I spent the weekend of 5th and 6th
October 2002 in the historic German town of Rottweil. This visit proved to be as enjoyable
as the last. I even stayed at the same hotel. Talk about superstitious...
The reason for my visit was twofold. On the one hand the BG
Rottweil u. U. e.V. of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Rottweiler Klub were
hosting the annual ADRK DM-VPG event in Rottweil that weekend. The other special
occasion was that Martin Hillgemann had created a life-size
bronze Rottweiler statue, and was presenting it to the town museum of Rottweil. The presentation took place on
the Friday evening. Two
local newspapers were present to cover this event. I have translated their
articles for you below.
When next you visit Rottweil, make sure that you visit the
local museum and see Martin's life-size bronze Rottweiler statue.
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Schwarzwälder Bote - Martin Hillgemann,
an artist from
Cologne, believes it is important to improve the reputation of the
Rottweiler. That is why he has invested almost 1000 man-hours to
create a 70kg bronze Rottweiler statue. He presented this statue to the
town of Rottweil as a gift.
Hillgemann, who has owned eleven Rottweilers, contacted Dr.
Winfried Hecht of the Rottweil town archives and sent him pictures of the
statue. He also came to Rottweil to see where his work
would be displayed. Hillgemann said that each of the handmade
statues is unique. Asked why he is donating this statue to
the town of Rottweil, Hillgemann replied that during his many visits he
noted that tourists associated the town with the Rottweiler breed and asked themselves
"Where are the Rottweilers?" The dogs are also similar to
the locals, in that you only get to know their true nature, when you have
become friends with them.
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| Hillgemann is fascinated by how each Rottweiler
resembles its master, and refers to the
Rottweiler as the "decathlete of the working dogs". The
Rottweiler embodies protection and calmness, is inconspicuous, yet can act
swiftly. That is why it is often regarded as
unpredictable, says Hillgemann, but one should rather look at the owner.
Everything that looks like a large dog is regarded as
dangerous by most people, but in his opinion the real danger is the
people that handle these dogs. That is why it is important to obey the laws.
Even though people pay dog taxes, they
cannot do as they please.
When asked why he keeps a dog, Hillgemann replies, "The dog gives me a
feeling of value, and I need the dog to feel that he
needs me". As of yesterday the bronze Rottweiler statue guards the
foyer of the town museum, where it was officially presented to the town of
Rottweil by
the President of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Rottweiler Klub, René
Külzer. Lord Mayor Thomas Engeser thanked him and Hillgemann
with a gift for the splendid statue.
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Schwäbische Zeitung - As of yesterday a
bronze Rottweiler dog guards the foyer of the town museum. On the
occasion of the 51st German Sport Dog Championship the President of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Rottweiler Klub (ADRK)
presented the town with a statue made by an artist and dog lover from Cologne.
"Oh look! Finally a Rottweiler in Rottweil!" That is
what Hillgemann hopes tourists will say. A friend suggested to the
longstanding Working Trial Judge and ADRK Member to create this life-size
statue. "Do you know how much work that is?" answered
Hillgemann, who worked for 32 years as a designer at Ford. But the
seed was sown and the "litter" consists of twelve
siblings. One of the bronze dogs stands in front of the Vienna
Military Dog Unit, others in private homes. |
| Hillgemann, who has known and loved the town
of Rottweil for almost half a century, contacted town archivist Dr
Winfried Hecht. The town donated a sand stone slab from the Black
Forest for the "decathlete of the working dogs".
Lord Mayor Thomas Engeser thanked the
artist and the ADRK President René Külzer for
the beautiful and splendid statue. He asked that the club continue
to pay attention to its breeders, so that no Rottweiler, which is distinguished by
its power and strength, may be abused.
The statue depicts a dog with a docked tail. "When the dogs
pulled the butcher's cart, and the wheel ran across the tail, the butcher
would sometimes cut it off" is how Hillgemann explains the tradition of
tail docking. However this practice was stopped in 1998.
"Jupp" was suggested as a name for the approximately
70kg Rottweiler, or "Ego II" in memory of Dr Regelmann's
faithful companion.
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