When uwe zalder talks about sculpting, it sounds a bit like a poem. "For me it's like music, says the 70-year-old, who seems to have found his true calling only after completing his professional career. "It sounds like a melody", finds uwe zalder. "Every hammer sounds different when it meets the meibel. As long as no rough machines are involved, it's a really nice buzz."
Many other hobby sculptors, who formed a group about ten years ago, also find it at least relaxing. The idea came from uwe zalder. He has already been to tuscany with other artists, collected many impressions there and was inspired by the moon path, which can now be found in winterhausen. And uwe zalder also worked on the sculpture garden in gerbrunn. He had already suggested a sculpture garden in kitzingen about five years ago, and had even chosen the right spot on the kitzingen side of the main river. In the end he was overruled, but the idea remained in his head.
That's why he is predestined to give tips to the kitzingen burghers, whom he invites to the event with the forderverein gartenschaugelande and the municipal gardening department – even though he emphasizes that he doesn't really know much about it at all. That's why he got support: the son of city gardener johannes lindner is a stonemason and knows how to work with which stone. There are various types of stone on the land at the winterhafen dam: yellow colored sandstone, shell limestone, and reed sandstone. "You have to know how the stone will react when you work on it."
Stones are back on the main
The two rough shell limestone boulders are very special stones – they once belonged to the highway bridge in mainstockheim until it was blown up. At that time uwe zalder secured several of the giants that serve as cladding. 15 of them are in the winterhauser skulpturenweg, two of them have now made the journey back to the banks of the main river. "These stones are good to work with, they have hardened over the years. Fresh shell limestone is otherwise very soft."
For the untrained, it was a real challenge to work on the stones, some of which were overgrown with moss and lichen, with hammers and chisels. That's why uwe zalder organizes heavy equipment for the work in kitzingen: a flex that can break down even the hardest stone in the shortest possible time. For this purpose, there are various attachments that can be changed according to need. This will make the work a lot easier – but it will also be noisy.
Everyone can make a contribution
In two weeks, however, the city will have its own sculpture path – depending on demand, uwe zalder still wants to add stones so that all interested parties can contribute something to their city. He himself is already working on a block of red sandstone, engraved with the emblem of the entente florale. He plans to donate the finished artwork to the city. For this and for the others, which will be created in the next two weeks, a contract will be drawn up, which will transfer the liability to the city.
But until that happens, uwe zalder is making some music – a new tune with hammer and meibel.