Er soll bleiben!

COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES
FOR THE PERMANENT APPROVAL OF THIS SCULPTURE AT THE ZION CHURCH IN BERLIN

Elbe sandstone, 175 x 185 x 120cm / 2021 – 2023, Zionskirche, Berlin-Mitte
Photo: ©Jörg Carstensen

In order for the responsible Berlin authorities to decide on a permanent stay for this temporarily approved sculpture, a public interest must be proven. That is why there is this collection of signatures:

During the Corona epidemic, the exhibition “Points of Resistance” (www.points-of-resistance.org) took place with the support of the Friends and parishioners of the Zion Church in Berlin. It opened on Easter Sunday and had about 3000 visitors, completely legally.

One sculpture was particularly popular with visitors to the exhibition: a small bear carrying a huge brick – the brick that was used to build not only Berlin but every industrial city in the world at the turn of the century before last – and is thus a symbol of urban life par excellence. And although the brick is actually much too heavy for this still very young bear – he carries it anyway!

The “little burden bear”, a sculpture by the Berlin-based sculptor Stefan Rinck (www.stefanrinck.de ), became a symbol for Berlin and many people during the deepest shutdowns in the 2021 corona epidemic to stick together and get through the difficult!
This video – a compilation of people’s reactions to the original sculpture – tells the story:

A few months later, on 9 November 2021, a large version of the Little Burden Bear was erected as a reminder of this shared experience, with astonishingly short notice from the relevant Berlin authorities.
In the meantime, not only residents and the church community love the “Big Burden Bear”:
https://www.kleinervonwiese.com/lastenbr-2007-why-i-bear-grosser-lastenbr-2021

However, the temporary permit for it expires this autumn, on 9 November 2023.
An application for a permanent permit has been made and liability issues have also been clarified. Nevertheless, a public interest in this work of art in the public space at Zion Church must be demonstrated.

Therefore, on the initiative of the sexton of the Zion Church, Jens Hegewald, there is a collection of signatures. It is also supported by the initiators of the exhibition series “Points of Resistance” in the Zion Church in Berlin (which has taken place there several times in the meantime):
MOMENTUM Berlin/ www.momentumworldwide.org  and the gallery www.KLEINERVONWIESE.com .

But also local residents, children and young people from the area and also many wedding couples who have married in the church since 2021 want the sculpture to stay.
Stefan Rinck is now an internationally respected sculptor who is shown and seen all over the world – but so far there is only this one work of his to be seen in public space in Germany.

With the sculpture “Why I bear / Großer Lastenbär”, a monument-relevant addition has been created at the Zionskirche.
In terms of a philosophical understanding of the Zion Church in Berlin as a heterotopia, it would be logical to leave the “Great Burden Bear” as a testimony to a collective experience of crisis next to the monument to Dietrich Bonhoeffer as part of a sculpture ensemble at the Zion Church.

The lecture by the philosopher and architectural theorist, Christian Posthofen, “Heterotopias – The Church, the Resistance and the Bear” on the occasion of the inauguration of the sculpture, tells of this:

In order to prove a public interest in the “big burden bear” at the Zion Church, we are collecting signatures and would also appreciate your support!

Thank you very much!

Foto: ©Andrea Garcia Lopez und Elena Baciu
Foto: ©Olliver Schnell

Sign the petition that the burden bear should stay at Zion Church!

List of all signees (813):

Adler-Brauer, Christina
Adlung , Danilo
Aghte, Heike
Aha, Lilian
Aha, Antonin
Aha, Astrid
Ak, Ezgi
Albarracin, Jorge Eduardo
Albert, Elisabeth
Alghrar , Duha
Allzeit, Claire
Ammouri, Hannah
Anders, Julius
Ardizzon, Letizia
Arndt, Anika
Arnold , Dietmar
Astor , Felix
B. , Uwe
Baeger, Sonja
Bahrs, Anke Katharina
Balcazar, Nicolas
Bargfeld, Andreas
Bargfeld, Maximilian
Bartels , Susannah
Bartl, ingrid
Bauch, Maximilian
Bauer , Martina
Baum, Angela
Baum, Martha
Bäumler, Quirin
Beer, Martin
Beinke, Thomas
Beitzen , Gisela
Below , Heidrun
Berger , Torsten
Berna, Bénédict
Bierstedt, Ina
Blank, Andreas
Blazek, Karen
Bohn, Therese
Böing, Volker
Borchert, Thomas
Börner , Melanie
Bösl, Lorenz
Boyd, Ashley
Braun, Erik
Braunisch, Kurt
Bräutigam, Andreas
Breitbach, Michelle
Breitwieser, Silvia Klara
Brelowski, Cornelia
Bretz, Bernhard
Brie, Maria
Brinkkötter, Gabriele
Brinkkötter , Jan Hendrik
Brockmann, Clara
Brough, David
Bründl, Daniel
Brüning, Sebastian
Bühler, Doris
Büsch, Sabine
Büttner, Angeli
Cano, Sandra
Carbonell Valero, Carlota
Carl, Martina
Castro , Eduardo Francisco
Chatschatrjan , Gajané
Christensen, Bo
Crone, Reinhard
Damerius, William
Damm, Ulrike
Damske, Marlen
Dapfner, Sepp
de Laczkovich, Nicholas
Degner, Helge
Delius, Sebastian
Demidenko , Aglaia
Demm, Kerstin
Dengler, Josefa
Dengler, Benedikt
Dette, Heinrich Samuel
di Lorenzo, Giovanni
Dietrich, Heidrun
Dietsch, Kristina
Djabbari, Emily
dornfeld, matthias
Dr Mak, George Kam Wah
Dr. Evers, Max
Dr. Moeller , Constanze
Dr. Möller , Constanze
Dummer, Daniel
Duperray, Ulla
Dutkowska , Dorota
Dzewior, Ketdtin
Eberhardt, Viktor
Eboulle, Kerstin
Eboulle, Kerstin
Edler, Horst
Ehrhardt , Kerstin
Eichler, Ginga
Eiffert, Jackie
Eitel, Sebastian
Elliott , David
Enders, Judith
Eöjel, Esben
Ermolaev , Dmitry
Eulen, Cora
Feinen, T
Fernández Grund , Laura
Feucht , Frederic
Finke, Hedda
Fischer , Kerstin
Fligge, Dagmar
Flückiger, Manuel
Fölsch , Alexandra
Fornaçon , Ines
Förster , Monique
Frankmar , Helena
Franz, Kilian
Franz, Christian
Frascati, Nicolas
Freund, Christian
Frey, Roland
Friebel, Julia
Fried, Alma
Fried, Claudia
Friese, Jantje
Friz , Mila Sophie
Fuchs , Anja
Fuchs, Frida Féline
Galinskyte, Agne
Gamper-Engel, Liselotte
Gavilan, Andres
Geillinger, Marcus Jochen
Geißelhardt , Lenz
Geldermann, Björn
Gensch , Volker
Geraets, Frank
Giebel, Anja
Giersiefen, Julius
Gildemeister, Max
Glienke, Claudia
Glienke, Lutz
Gmelin, Karina
Göggelmann, Walter Hermann
Goncharenko, Volodymyr
Graf, Gero
Grindell, N.
Gross, Stan
Groß, Simone
Grunert-Baillet, Beate
Grunst , Claudia
Günst, Karl-Heinz
Haberberger, Birgit
Haberecht, Kathrin
Haffmann, Birgitt
Hahn, Monika
Halt, Adalbert
Hanig, Theo
Hantke, Thomas
Hartmann, Sonja
Hasselmann, Ann-Kathrin
Haupt , Frank
Hauschild, Brigitte
Hecker, Julius
Hedtfeld , Julia
Hedtfeld, Emma
Hegewald, Valeska
Hegewald, Jens
Heiber, Eckehard
Heidlindemann, Berthold
Heine, Ann
Heinz, Henning
Helget, Maren
Heling, Rajae
Hell, Julia
Helmers, Leon
Henze, Sarah
Herbold, Astrid
Herfeld , Juliane
herzberg , ruth
Herzog, Thomas
Hilbert, Nicole
Hildebrand, Marie
Hillenbrand, Isabel
Hillenbrand, Ulrich
Hillert , Johanna
Hinsberg, Veronike
Hinterleitner , Karl
Hinze , Thomas
Hlubek , Ulrike
Hofer, Lukas
Hoffhaus , Alexander
Hoffmann, Johanna
Hoffmann, Maximilian
Hofmann, Margarete
Höhn, Maria
Höhne, Sandra
Höhne, Sandra
Holtz, Juliette
Holzwarth, Sebastian
Hornberg, Julian
Hottelet , Ulrich
Hotze, Regina
Huang, Huang Jia
Hübner, Paul
Hübschmann, Sabine
Hufgard, Henriette
Hurler, Laura
Husmann, Dagmar
Ibanez Rubio, Maria
Illgen, Mathias
Jänichen , Heike
Janssen, Iris
Janssen, Finn
Jesse, Gabriele
Jöchler, Noah
Jolic, Diana
Jung, Hanna
Jungjohann , Anne
Jüsche, Jörg
Kahl, Laurenz
Kalinowski , Katja
Kalkowsky , Sylvia
Kalmbach, Simon
kapala , pavlo
Karalar, Joana
Karisch , Mathias
Karvela , Olga
Kehrwald, Hanne
KEITH, Carola
Keller, Julian
Keller, Kim
Kelterborn, Ben
Kelterborn, Ben
Kern, Albert
Kersten , Katrin
Kersting, Claire
kessler, eva-marie
Kieker, Arne
Kindler, Laura
Kirner, Karen
Kleiner, Bella
Kleiner, Benjamin
Kleiner, Friederike
Kleiner, Gabriele
Kleiner, Maximilian
Kleiner, Gabriele
Kleiner, Constanze
Klemenz, Martin
Klemperer, David
Klingbeil, Maren
Klonowski , Luisa
Klopper, Sabine
Klopper, Wilfried
Kluge, Ina
Klukas, Martin
Knäuper, Sieglinde
Knobbe, Karsten
Kobel, Silvana
Koch, Petra
Koch, Christoph
Koch, Juliane
Konsek, Leo
Korb, Christina
Körner, Alberdina
KPNC, ___
Kraus , Harald
Krause-Hinzmann , Karin
Kreisel, Olf
Kremer, Wolfgang
Krippendorff, David
Kröger, Karl
Krüger, Ulrich
Kube, Bernhard
Kuen, Viktoria
Kuhlow, Claudia
Kuhn, Ellinor
Kühne , Jürgen
Kunert , Christina
Lailach-Hennrich, Andrea
Landerer, Sigrun
Lang, Kathrin
Lange, Gotthard
Langheinrich, Petra
Lappat, Annabelle
Lemke, Olaf
Leymann, Nicolai
Liesen, Jutta
Lin, YiChen
Lindorf, Erik
Lindorf, Eva
Lizarazo, Mauricio
Lopatynski , Katja
Luther, Melanie
Mähne, Sabine
Mairoll, Eva
Maischberger, Sandra
Mann, Alina
Marcellini, Nicole
Margold , Anja
Marinov, Antoanetta
Marquardt, Silke
Marquardt, Anke
Marquardt, Urs
Marth, Konstanze
Martins, Berta
Mastroberti, Remo
Mauer, Reiner
Maurer , Marion
Maurer, Christoph
Maurer, Thomas
Mcglotten, Olivia Sylvia
McLaughlin, Daniel
Mebold , Mathilde
Meisel, Peter
Meisel, Tilo
Menne, Sophie
Menzel, Thomas C.
Mercker, Michael
Meschede, Friedrich
Mey, Armin
Meyer, Volker Max
Meyer , Anna
Michalski, Jürgen
Mierau, Thomas
Mierendorff , Konrad
Mittmann , Angela
Moeller , Doris
Mucchi, Gabrio
Müglitz, Leo
Müller, Alexander
Müller, Michelle
Müller-Huschke, Valerie
Münch , Tobias
Münch, Torsten
Nagel , Max
Nahrendorf, Christiane
Nawrocki, Holger
Nawroth, Andreas
Noack, Kay-Uwe
Noritsch, Jana
Nülle, Andreas
Odar, Baran bo
Oehling, Gerhard
Oehlschlaeger, Lars
ollertz , ralf
Opara, Jonas
Oparin, Iryna
Osner, Kawta S
Otto, Steffi
Papadopoulos, Georg
Paquis , Nadia
Paryz, Sarah
Patzak, Daniel
Paulsen, Lukas
Pénet, Vincent
Pesic, Maïa
Peter, Doris
Peter, Hans
Pfeffer, Karolin
Pfeiffer , Klaus
pfeiffer , cornelia
Pfister , Jonas
Plewe, Torge Alexander
Pollmann , Amira
Polzin , Alexander
Posthofen, Anja
Posthofen , Christian
Przybyla, Joanna
Pues, Christiane
Puntke, Rüdiger
Pusch, Michael
Quade, Björn
Rahn, Falk
Reichel , Victoria
Reichelt , Matthias
Reichert , Alexander
Reichwein, David
Reimann, Toni
Reinke, Michael
Reithmeier, Michael
Remmer, Astrid
Rennert, Dirk
Riccioli , Rebecca
Richter, Sally
Rieck, Andrea
Riewe, Marc
Risk, Lara
Rits-Volloch, Rachel
Ritter , Hubert
Rolshoven, Hannes
Römhild, Torsten
Roße, Stefanie
Rößler, Rhea
Rotscholl, Frank
Rutner, Saskia
Sagadotter , Sol
Salpeter , Kathrin
Samus, Dmytro
Sander, Karin
Schaefer , Juliane
Schäfer , Iris
Schaper, Jarius
Schauwecker, Mathias
Scheppan, Astrid
Schewe, Catharina
Schiller , Matthias
Schindler, Sabine
schlipkoeter, sandra
Schmidt, Ute
Schmidt, Vera
Schmolt, Michael
Schoormann, Tjark
Schoormann, Daje
Schorlemmer , Horacjusz
Schredder , Matze
Schröder , Patrick
Schröder , Ap
Schroedter , Josefine
Schruff, Christian
Schuhmacher, Jörg
Schultz , Kevin
Schulz, Anja
Schulz, Andreas
Schulz, Helge
Schulze, Eckhard
Schumacher, Ivo
Schwenn, Annika
Schwietzke , Felix
Seeger, Arne
Seibold, Georg
Seifert, Benjamin
Seip, Jessica
Seligman, Tom
Seltenheim , Frank
Senol, Elmas
Sery, André
Serz, Kerstin
Shaev, Konstantin
Sieger, Anja
Siegwart, Stephan
Sindberg, Philipp
Singer, Samuel
Singer, Sylvia
Singer, Robert
Sizov, Fedor
Śmiglak, Emanuela
Soni , Vraj
Sperlich, Marc
Spickhoff, Celia
Stabenow-Becker, Ulf
Stanitzek , Joachim B.
Steffen , Esther
Stegemann , Dirk
Stephan , Jan-Eric
Sy , Frithjof
ter Horst, Martina
ter Horst, Wilhelm
Theisen , Oliver
Thiel, Veronika
Thomann-Müller, Lucas
Thomas, Jens
Thun, Julia
Tillmann, Esther
Tischer, Franz X.
Titze, Renate
Tönnesmann, Maja
Treskow, Elisabeth
Türk, Viola
Tuzlali, Selma
Tziridis, Julia
Uhde, Dagmar
Urban, Juraj
Usai, Benjamin
Utecht , Lenja
Utecht, Uwe
v. Wedel, Annette
Van der Wal , Christiana
Velkov, Vlado
Victor, Stefan
Vogel , Maike
Voigt, Kerstin
Volk, Bettine
Von Bülow, Johann
von Bülow , Susanne
von der Hövel , Erling
von Heydebrand , Detlev
von Pannwitz, Wolfram
von Pannwitz, Christiane
von Wiese, Stephan
Voss, Martin
Wackerbauer , Martin
Wagner , Christina
Wagner , Klaus
Wagner, Jacqueline
Wagner, Sophie
Wagner, Anne
Wallisfurth , Philip
Wallrodt, Lilja
Wander, Maria
Wegerhoff, York
Weintraut, Sandra
Weis, Regina
Weis, Regina
Weis, Patrick
Weiss, Samuel
Weiss, Cornelia
Werner, Maxime
Wienforth, Jörg
Wiese, Edwin
Willert, Rainer
Wilsch , M.
Wilsch , M.
Wimmers, Joachim
Wittig , Jana
Wodtcke, Anne
Wojtiniak, Gabriele
Wolf, Alexander
Wolf, Florian
Wolff, Thekla
Wotzka, Christiane
wrobel, berno
Yaraghchi, Stephan
Yurovskyy , Alexander
Zacharopoulou , Anastasia
Zadeh, Merle
zaiser, phillip
Zalewski , Micha
Zielke, Kathrin
Zielke, Rolf
Zilkens, Stephan
Zimmermann, Renate
Zimmermann , Reinhard
Zwinge-Makamizile, Elke