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Mutter Kinzig

Mutter Kinzig is an iron-cast figure by sculptor Franz Xaver Reich of Hüfingen. It represents the feminine counterpart to Father Rhine, personifying the Rhine near Kehl, where the Kinzig flows into the river. The sculpture first decorated the German side of the railway bridge between Kehl and Strasbourg, opened in 1861, and stood opposite Father Rhine on the 17-metre-high entrance portal. After the portal was blown up during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the figure sank into the Rhine and was rediscovered in 1897 during dredging. Since 1905, it has formed part of a war memorial on Kehl’s market square, in front of the former town hall.

Mutter Kinzig monument with a stone eagle atop a tall shaft and a dark female figure below.
Mutter Kinzig monument in Kehl am Rhein, featuring a stone eagle and a dark metal female figure on a tiered base.
June 2013 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Mutter Kinzig monument with an eagle atop a column and a draped female figure in the fountain base.
The Mutter Kinzig monument features an eagle-topped column above a draped female figure in the fountain base.
December 2012 © Mathieu Nivelles · CC BY 2.0
Mutter Kinzig monument with a spread-winged eagle atop a stone pedestal and a bronze female figure below.
The Mutter Kinzig monument in Kehl, showing a winged eagle above a draped female figure.
October 2017 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mutter Kinzig statue with a leafy wreath, leaning against a stone monument and holding an overturned urn.
Mutter Kinzig, a female statue with a wreath in her hair, beside a stone monument in Kehl.
November 2010 © · CC BY 3.0
Mutter Kinzig statue of a bronze-colored woman holding an urn beside a stone monument
The Mutter Kinzig sculpture leans against a stone war memorial, with the figure holding an urn.
March 2009 © · CC BY 2.0

Identification

TitleMutter Kinzig
Alternative titleLa statue de la Mère Kinzig
Original language titleМати Кінціг
Typecast-iron statue

Historical context

Date1861

Creator

ArtistFranz Xaver Reich
Artist dates1815–1881
Artist originHüfingen
Artist styleNeoclassical

Materials

Materialcast iron

Physical characteristics

Scaleapproximately life-size
Figureidealized broad-shouldered nude woman with long flowing hair and a crown of pine cones
Posedescending from a tree stump while pouring water from a hydria
Object heldhydria
Support/base elementtree stump

Iconography and meaning

Subjectpersonification of the Kinzig River, a tributary of the Rhine
Interpretationfemale counterpart to Vater Rhein
Symbolismto demonstrate unity between the two countries
Related geographic featurethe Kinzig flows into the Rhine near Kehl

Location and ownership

Position in settingin the foreground of the memorial
Current settingin front of a war memorial commemorating the fallen of the Franco-Prussian War
Current locationMarktplatz (Market Square), Kehl, Germany

History and restoration

Bridge nicknameEintrachtsbrücke (Unity Bridge)
Preservation historynarrowly escaped being melted down during both World Wars
Original Father Rhine statusstill missing
Later fate of replacement bridgecompletely destroyed during World War II
Replacement bridgereplaced by new versions on the new bridge built in 1874
Restorationrestored in 1905
Destructionthe German-side portal was blown up on 22 July 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, and the statues sank into the Rhine
Design arrangementthe figures followed the king's gallery in French cathedrals
French-side counterpart figuresFather Rhine and Mother Ill (Mère Jll)
Counterpart artistHans Baur
CounterpartFather Rhine
Bridge opening dateApril 1861
Original bridge locationupper storey of the entrance portal on the Kehl side
Original installationon the German side of the railway bridge over the Rhine between Kehl and Strasbourg
Current installation date1905

Discovery and provenance

Rediscoveryfound again in the Rhine during dredging work in 1897

Significance

Historical traditionpart of a 19th-century local tradition of pairing a male Rhine statue with a female statue representing one of its tributaries
Related surviving examplea pair personifying Rhenus and Mosella still survives in Strasbourg's Neustadt

Other

Nicknamethe most beautiful girl in Kehl
Associated comparative referenceFather Rhine and Mother Mosella by Alfred Marzolff, 1898, Strasbourg, 5 rue du Maréchal Joffre