Treidelpfad (Towpath)

Johannes Brus’s Towpath sculpture, a boat made of concrete with two bronze horses, is a reference to the history of the nearby Kripp district. Kripp was an important towage station between Cologne and Koblenz before travel by steamboat replaced the need for towboats from 1860 on. For centuries, ships had been pulled upstream with the help of horses. Hauling these vessels demanded a great deal of exertion from the horses. Furthermore, the reflection of the sun in the water frequently caused blindness in their left eye, and the constant lateral pull of the rope eventually left them broken-backed.
In his sculpture, Johannes Brus has reversed the working conditions. His horses – one facing upstream, the other downstream – stand proudly on a ship’s deck, free of any kind of burden.

Johannes Brus born 1942 in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, lives and works in Essen-Kettwig, North Rhine-Westphalia