The giant blue sculpture of the euro, a symbol of Europe and above all of the currency, will be auctioned in mid-October because it is too expensive to maintain.
Located in Willy-Brandt Square in Frankfurt, the financial capital of Germany, since the end of 2001 it has become a symbol of the city’s identity despite the misgivings of the Germans about the euro.
The sculpture survived the violent protests of left-wing and anarchist movements and the encampments of the anti-capitalist Blockupy movement during the financial crisis.
Photographs of this sculpture of the euro appear in all information related to the euro and years ago it was also seen in information about the European Central Bank (ECB) because its first headquarters were a few meters away.
It served as the background for television reporters for their reports on the ECB until the bank moved to its new headquarters.
The sculpture is owned by the non-profit committee Verein Frankfurter Kultur Komitee, headed by Manfred Pohl, who announced its upcoming auction.
But the increase in vandalism in the last two years, which has gobbled up the financial means available to the committee for all its projects, prevents private financial contributions from being sufficient to maintain it.
The committee stopped developing some activities, such as the project against racism in primary schools in Frankfurt and in the entire region on the banks of the Rhine and the Main or a colloquium on Europe.
After attempts to secure funding failed as no one wants to keep it, the committee has decided it is best to auction it off.
The ECB, which has contributed 15,000 euros a year to maintain it, also has no interest in continuing to do so and did not even go to a round table at the end of April to discuss financing its maintenance, according to Pohl.
The euro sculpture, which is the work of the German artist Ottmar Hörl, is 14 meters high, weighs 50 tons and at night is illuminated throughout the year with LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights.
The euro symbol is surrounded by twelve stars that represent the first twelve countries that introduced the euro, in January 2002, although now the citizens of 19 countries already use the currency and from next year they will use the currency of 20, when Croatia enters the club.
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