“Erkennen Dich Selbst”/ “KNOW YOURSELF” The sculpture design won the 1st prize of a competition to commemorate the 475th anniversary of the Archigymnasium in Soest (2008). A sculpture group (figure and base) made of metal and stone is placed in the centre of the school atrium. A delicate figure climbs up a flat, rectangular stone slab with the help of stacked blocks and stretches over the upper edge of the top block. The inscription “KNOW YOURSELF” (in German) is carved on the side of the slab the figure is scaling. The typeface chosen, “Herculanum”, similar in form to ancient Greek typography, recalls both the classical origins of the Archigymnasium and the origin of the title. I have taken the title from the text of the same name by Karl-Friedrich Bartlewski an earlier headteacher of the school from the anniversary commemorative publication “450 Years of the Archigymnasium”. (P.193). It references the inscription above the temple of Apollo in Delphi. The essay discusses aspects of Greek religion and the worldview that this inscription denotes as a central idea. A humane world view and a philosophy of behaviour that can probably still have relevance for today. The figure is modelled and cast in Bronze, the blocks are the local Anröchter green sandstone. Completed and installed in the atrium of the Archigymnasium in 2009.
