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Nuremberg’s New Imperial Busts

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Nuremberg’s New Imperial Busts

Nuremberg’s famous Hirsvogel Hall (“Hirsvogelsaal”) is known for its gallery of Roman emperors. Since the original busts were lost in the turmoil of the post-war years, it was decided to create new ones. Silicone moldmaking compounds from WACKER were used to produce the replicas.
Sculptress Anke Oltscher applies the fine layer of silicone rubber.
“Art sometimes takes muscle,” jokes sculptress Anke Oltscher. She certainly needed muscle to work on the twelve sculptures of Roman emperors, which she and her colleague Olaf Bieber spent some considerable time on. The busts were commissioned for the Hirsvogel Hall, an architectural jewel located in Nuremberg.
This gem was built in 1534 by Lienhard III Hirsvogel, a respected Nuremberg merchant. The hall was to be his bridal gift to Sabine Welser, daughter of a merchant from Augsburg, whom he married the same year. However, the marriage did not last long: Sabine returned to Augsburg only 18 months after the wedding. After years of divorce proceedings, the now bankrupt Lienhard was forced to leave the city.
The front and rear of every bust are molded in separate steps and surrounded by support molds.
His property then changed hands. More interior fittings were added later: above the ornately carved wooden paneling, a gallery of imperial Roman busts was erected, which imposed their presence on the room.
In the early 20th century, the Hirsvogel Hall passed into the hands of the City of Nuremberg. The highly popular tourist destination was destroyed along with countless other monuments in the old town during the air-raids of January 2, 1945. “Fortunately, though, the precious fittings had been removed and thus saved for posterity,” explains Ulrike Berninger, the museum director. The imperial busts, however, are still missing – to this very day.
The new Hirsvogelsaal – with the imperial busts still missing from the gallery.

The Hirsvogel Hall Shines Again

Dr. Franz Sonnenberger, director of Nuremberg’s municipal museums from 1994 to 2008, came up with an idea to rebuild the Hirsvogel Hall, close to the Tucher Mansion Museum and adjoining Renaissance garden.
The new Hirsvogel Hall opened to the public in 2000, the 950th anniversary of the city’s founding. To complete the hall’s imposing character, the missing busts were reconstructed.
The sculptors Anke Oltscher and Olaf Bieber worked on the imperial busts for almost three years.
The two sculptors given the commission used verified antique models for their work. They worked with plaster of paris, which is the material from which the originals were made and which is eminently suitable for making replicas. To be on the safe side, two copies of each imperial bust were made. The busts were molded in silicone rubber.
“The silicone mold is then used to make two plaster copies of each bust,” explains Anke Oltscher, one of the sculptors. She prefers to use ELASTOSIL® moldmaking compounds from WACKER, which are hardwearing and easy to use.
After almost three years, the sculptors’ work is complete. The busts were unveiled during May 2009 in a festive ceremony held in the new Hirsvogel Hall.
Further Information

The Fascination of Chemistry – WACKER’s Audio Magazine

Silicone Moldmaking: Famous Examples

“WACKER moldmaking compounds have been used to reproduce and restore major works of art,” says Dr. Thomas Gröer, technical service manager at the Burghausen plant.

Prominent Examples:
The restoration of Michelangelo’s famous Pietà, which was seriously damaged in an attack in 1972; the molding of a Moai – one of the enigmatic, giant stone statues on Easter Island – for Frankfurt Airport; a copy of a section of the ceiling of the Altamira Cave – a famous stone-age cave in Spain – which is now on display in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.

Nuremberg and WACKER

Wacker Chemie AG’s roots extend to Nuremberg, too. It was here in 1896 that Alexander Wacker (1846 - 1922), then director of Elektrizitäts AG (previously known as Schuckert & Co) set up an electrochemical laboratory, which he turned into the “Consortium für elektrochemische Industrie GmbH” in 1903.

It was a cornerstone of the “Dr. Alexander Wacker, Gesellschaft für elektrochemische Industrie, KG,” which he founded in 1914 when he was 68 years old. The headquarters of the young company were initially in Traunstein, before they were moved to Munich in 1916.

In 1918, the Consortium, too, moved from Nuremberg to Zielstattstraße in Munich. It is still WACKER’s corporate research facility and the source of major inventions and patents.