Gustav Freytag

The Gustav Freytag Monument stands in Wiesbaden’s Kurpark and commemorates the German writer, dramatist, and journalist. Sculptor Fritz Schaper, a representative of the Berlin School, created the monument.

A larger-than-life white marble figure presents Freytag standing on a high shell-limestone pedestal, holding a book. He wears a suit and coat in the upright statue.

At the base, a fountain bowl for a dolphin-headed gargoyle rises above semicircular steps beside the pedestal. The gargoyle is now described as decommissioned.

Arched balustrades flank the monument, ending in marble groups of putti with a scroll, theatre mask, and book. The scroll and mask recall his plays, while the book reflects his literary work.

Freytag edited Die Grenzboten and wrote Soll und Haben, Die Verlorene Handschrift, and Die Ahnen. He studied philology in Breslau and Berlin.

Health reasons brought Freytag to Wiesbaden, where he settled permanently and entered the city’s cultural history. A Wiesbaden street later carried his name.