The Heinrich Kirchner Sculpture Park

The Heinrich Kirchner Sculpture Park was officially opened on 12 May 1982, the date of the artist’s 80th birthday. To this day, it remains an important part of the city of Erlangen and, like the Palace Garden, the Botanical Garden and the Aroma Garden, it is a green oasis of calm.

The park combines works from all creative phases. In the western part of the Burgberggarten, a former villa garden, the older sculptures from the period between 1935 and 1972 can be seen. The steeper terrain in the east is characterised by monumental figures from 1974 to 1982. For this former orchard, Kirchner created his last works, Prometheus (1979/1980), Guardian in the Garden of Eden (1978) and – his last work – Wanderer (1983), which has been acquired by the city on the occasion of the park’s thirtieth anniversary and is the crowning glory of the design concept. The Wanderer is also the last work completed in the artist’s lifetime, before his death in 1984 at the age of 82.

The Heinrich Kirchner Sculpture Park on the Burgberg thus remains a testimony to a fulfilled and happy artistic career, full of love for mankind and nature manifested in the expressive figures. Even now, many years later, the artist’s humanistic world view and vital creativity are still palpable here and give hope that this place will continue to be a piece of cultural identity for future generations in Erlangen.