What comes to mind first when you hear the name of the Bremen City? Of course, the fairy tale of Brothers Grimm about the Bremen Musicians. These characters have their own monument in the city.

The bronze musicians are located on Market Square. This is a funny pyramid: a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a cock. Around these joyful guys are always a lot of tourists, it is never deserted there, on the contrary, usually, there is a big queue of people, who want to take a photo with them. So, if you want to make it fast and without a crowd on the background – come to the monument early in the morning.

This symbol appeared not so long ago, in 1953. The creator of the sculpture- a famous German sculptor of the 20th century Gerhard Marx.

It is surprising, but when the sculpture appeared on the square, a lot of people talked about it. The locals did not like this monument. First of all, it seemed to them to be too small, just 2 meters high. Secondly, the animals were too naturalistic and modern, and the people imagined them completely different while reading the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale.

But Gerhard Marx did not pay attention to the critics of the citizens, he was assured that his work would be cherished one day. It was more difficult to accept the colleagues’ opinion, who considered that Marx, the known sculptor, who was specializing in war memorials, took a stupid task. But the artist wanted to create a fun sculpture, which would be interesting for kids and adults, attracted the visitors, talked about the history and culture of the city.

The time showed that Gerhard Marx was right. Now his Bremen Musicians monument is one of the favorite sights of citizens and visitors of Bremen.

Interestingly, the monument became so popular that in 1990 the Bremen sculptor Krista Baumgertel made a stylistically similar composition, which now decorates the old Riga center – the twin city of Bremen. And another project of a previously unloved monument is established in the city of Zulpich.