One year after its 150th anniversary, the Bremen Cotton Exchange is pleased to announce a generous donation by Bremen merchant Wolfgang Vogt-Jordan. The former President of the Cotton Exchange commissioned the well-known Bremen artist Claudia Krentz to create an impressive bronze sculpture. In the form of a female spinner, it symbolizes the traditionally close connection of cotton traders to the textile industry since the founding years.
The Executive Committee and the Board have accepted the donation on the occasion of the General Assembly at the end of June. The President of the Bremen and Bremerhaven Chamber of Commerce, Eduard Dubbers-Albrecht, and Professor Dr Georg Skalecki, head of Bremen’s regional authority for monument preservation, were among the guests of the donation ceremony.
Wolfgang Vogt-Jordan has been closely associated with the Bremen Cotton Exchange for decades. In addition to his time as president, he has been involved in the Board in various honorary positions for many years. With his commitment, Vogt-Jordan is following the path that the founders of the Cotton Exchange already chose: Without the foresighted creative and financial commitment of the trade businessmen and private financiers, the building of the Bremen Cotton Exchange would not have been built in 1902.
Historical Figures Adorned the Gables of the Cotton Exchange
The statue of the female spinner is the successor to the original historical figure that was positioned on the roof of the Cotton Exchange in 1902 – just like its counterpart, the messenger of the gods Hermes as a symbol of the cotton trade. The well-known architect of the Cotton Exchange, Johann Georg Poppe, had placed the two man-sized figures on opposite pointed gables of the building‘s roof. They testified to the traditional cooperation between the cotton trade and the cotton industry.
In 1910, the figures of the spinner and Hermes had to be removed from the building for safety, building law reasons. While the spinner disappeared in the turmoil of the World Wars, Hermes was removed from the garden of a former president a few years ago and returned to the Cotton Exchange. After extensive restoration, the galvanoplastic stands in the foyer of the Kontorhaus (ancient office building).
Picture: In 1902, the statues were placed on the marked gables on the roof of the BBB: the female spinner to the left, Hermes to the right.
Balance Between Industry and Trade
„With this donation, I’d like to to contribute to the historical heritage of the building. This will restore the visual balance between industry and trade. I hope that viewers can draw inspiration and pleasure from the artwork,“ said Wolfgang Vogt-Jordan during the unveiling.
The State Conservator, Professor Dr Georg Skalecki, who had been involved in the process of creation, was also very pleased with the new art in the stairwell of the Cotton Exchange.
The statue created by Claudia Krentz is the sculptural realisation of the balance that has accompanied the history of the Bremen Cotton Exchange for a long time. Trade and industry as essential pillars of the association complement each other, even today.
In dialogue with the historic sculpture of Hermes in the foyer, the newly designed figure of the female spinner can be seen just a few meters away in the stairwell. Clearly visible from the entrance area of the Cotton Exchange, the spinner now greets visitors to the large Kontorhaus.
