Busto de Richard Wagner

About

The Bust of Richard Wagner in Leipzig, inaugurated in 1983, is dedicated to the Leipzig-born composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883). The design goes back to the Leipzig sculptor Max Klinger (1857–1920).

Location and shape: The Bust of Richard Wagner stands in the Promenadenring behind the opera house on the eastern slope of the Schwanenteich (Swan Pond), looking west. The location can almost be considered slightly hidden. The larger than life bust made of dark patinated bronze is 93 centimetres (37 in) tall and rests on a simple sandstone base. This bears the inscription RICHARD WAGNER on the front and MAX KLINGER on the back. On the side, BRONZE NOACK LEIPZIG 1982 indicates the manufacturer. The portrait shows the mature Wagner in classically austere simplicity in a frontal view without any indication of clothing.

Neither Max Klinger's efforts from 1903 until the First World War to create a representative monument to the composer in his birthplace in Leipzig, nor the ambitious plans during the Nazi era to erect a monumental memorial at the Richard Wagner Hain, the southern part of the Palmengarten, were successful. When Wagner's 170th birthday and the 100th anniversary...