Two works of art at the motorway bridge

On each side of the motorway bridge works of art are remarkable for the traveler standing in context with the varied history and the rigorous separation of the two nations.

The construction of the motorway carried out by both sides and the mutual managed border crossing-point were understood as a positive change of the relations of both nations after the time of the “Iron Curtain”. The historical connecting name of the link road "Via Carolina" was the basic for an artist competition. Nine artists of both countries have been invited to hand in their designs. Four Czech and four German judges and the ambassador of the duchy Luxembourg as well as chairman decided for the work of the sculptor Helmut Langhammer from Prassath in the Upper Palatinate Forest.

The plastic art on the German side:

With this plastic art a rectangle surrounds frame-formed a circled internal area opening in free motion to the horizon.

Two different metals show clearly and increase the tension interaction of "cohesion" and "opening", which was expressed by the politics of Karl IV..

The memory of the cut in two of the border area East-West presents itself as a direct referring to the present.

The plastic art is 6 m high and consists of refined steel and cast bronze.

The plastic art on the Czech side:

The plastic art on the Czech side consists of a frame element with a Gothic “Tympanon” and a bronze gate.

All elements are shifted from the perpendicular in a slight incline to show clearly the dynamism of the situation and in contrast to the statically bridge buildings.

The gate is definitely opened. Usually you open and close a gate when required. Differently here: The gate stands, leaned next to the hinges, as a symbol of a process at the border.

The plastic art is 6.5 m high and consists of refined steel and “Tombak”, a copper-tin-alloy.

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