On the Backs of Men

 If you make a pretty long walk around Frankfurt....you tend to notice sculptures built into buildings.  Normally, there are free-standing men, Greeks Gods, or winged myths built on top of buildings.  But in this case....it's men built onto the side of a building....bearing the load of the landscape upon their back.

I probably came across at least five buildings in a couple of hours that had the design.

I admit....I probably stood there for several minutes in each case and marveled at the way it was built into the building and likely had a clear message to the purpose of the original building and it's occupants.

It tends to say something about the society, the economy, and life itself....being built upon the backs of men.  Either through their money, their taxation, their physical labors, or their achievements in life.

None of these are modern (the past fifty years).....they all come from the period prior to 1914 and the war.

Frankfurt has been a major business capital of Hessen, Germany, and for that matter....Europe and the world.

Risk and failure were always part of the banking and investment world.  It's not new....it's been around for thousands of years.  I suspect at some point in the 1800s....bankers and speculators began to sit down and view things from a scientific standpoint.  This got into construction ideas for new investment and banking structures.

Tens of thousands of people walk by these buildings today, and I doubt if even one-percent of them grasp the meaning of the statues built into the buildings.

Elsewhere in Europe?  I haven't really noticed these anywhere else.  Maybe it was a limited sculptor team that only operated in Frankfurt, and this is the lifetime of work that they can lay claim to.  Anyway.....if you are around the north side of the river, and have two or three hours....just walk near the financial district of Frankfurt and pay attention.