Corona Schröter statue on Theater Island

Artworks

Description

A plinth with an inscription on which a sculpture was originally placed, dedicated to the German opera singer and actress Corona Elisabeth Wilhelmine Schröter from Guben. The granite pillar is centrally integrated into a very well-kept and bio-diverse landscape architecture, located at the southern end of the Theater Island (Ger. Theaterinsel, Pol. Wyspa Teatralna), opposite the remains of the Guben city theater. There are four paths leading to the former sculpture; the whole is surrounded by a small, semicircular promenade with benches and stairs overlooking the Great Bridge, the hydroelectric power plant, and the German part of the Eurocity Guben-Gubin.

Historical background

"On Saturday afternoon [May 20, 1905], in the presence of a distinguished society, there was an unveiling of [a bronze bust] of the artist once so highly valued by Goethe" (Ger.: Märkische Blätter)). On the pedestal is engraved the sentence spoken by Goethe about Corona itself »Muses endowed her with all talents, and nature created art in her - Goethe« (Ger. »Es gönnten ihr die Musen jede Gunst und die Natur erschuf in ihr die Kunst - Goethe«).

The bust disappeared during World War II - it is not known whether it was damaged or stolen. The sculpture was considered lost when the church bells were melted down – it is therefore assumed that it shared the same fate.

In 2001, the city authorities of Gubin placed a granite plinth in front of the former city theater on the Theater Island.

In 2015, a golden memorial plaque in German and Polish, financed by donations, was set at the base of the pedestal.

Information about the artists

Born on 17.07.1870 in Dresden (Prussia) - died on 30.10.1941 in Stuttgart (Germany)
Son of the famous sculptor Adolf (von) Donndorf
Studied sculpture with my father and at the Stuttgart Art School
Continued education in Dresden (1892), Paris (1900) and Rome (1902)
1902: professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Weimar
1906: return and operation in Stuttgart

Member of the German Association of Artists and Masonic Lodge in Stuttgart. Known e.g., from the monument of the Saxon-Weimar prince Herman (Stuttgart, 1904) and the bust of Nietzsche (Weimar, 1903).

Artwork review

»The bust on the column made of red Swedish granite showed Corona as a mature, self-confident woman, similar to the one depicted in the painting by Anton Graff. Her eyes were focusing on the entrance to the Guben’s city theater, which was opened in 1874« - Andreas Peter, Rosemarie Schuder» Goethes ›schöne Krone‹. Corona Schröter und ihr Denkmal in Guben «, 2011.