Metal | The Eagle from the Rock Gate in Sanssouci Park

The Eagle of the Rock Gate is a large sculpture made of sheet zinc and coated in monochrome. It was made in 1849 and shows an eagle fighting a snake.

Der Adler vom Felsentor im Park Sanssouci
Period:
–
Type:
Teaching project
Student project
Organisational Unit:
Course:

Loan: Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation
Date: 1849

Brief description of specific task

The Eagle of the Rock Gate is a monochrome coated large sculpture made of sheet zinc. It was made in 1849 and shows an eagle fighting a snake. Since the eagle is statically very unstable, the Eagle of the Rock Gate was dismantled in 2014 and brought to the metal workshop of the FH Potsdam. The eagle had already been examined by Sascha Rode in 2014 with regard to its condition and the manufacturing technique. Florian Pohlmann built a supporting framework (2015-16) and dealt with the intended installation and the measures to be carried out on the eagle until then in his bachelor thesis (2017). The coating of the eagle is only partially present and very loose. The aim of the project work is to develop a concept for strengthening the coating. The coating is to be examined more closely and the consolidation tests already carried out by F. Pohlmann are to be evaluated. Furthermore, different possibilities for investigating the penetration depth will be shown and different strengthening agents will be described with regard to their characteristics and ageing behaviour. Based on the results and practical tests on test specimens, a suitable strengthening concept can be developed. Furthermore, the strengthening of the eagle is aimed at with students of the 3rd semester.

Previous work

  • Rode, Sascha: The disassembly of the sculpture and its transport to the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences. WiSe 2014/15, project work
  • Rode, Sascha, 2014. the AFT condition description and investigation of the manufacturing technique. Bachelor thesis
  • Pohlmann, Florian, 2017. the AFT.
  • Installation recommendation and overview of measures for indoor installation, Bachelor thesis.
  • Evaluation of consolidation tests F. Pohlmann
  • Research on strengthening agents on metal objects (application in restoration, properties, ageing behaviour).
  • Research on different possibilities for investigating the depth of penetration
  • Strengthening concept

Project support

Dipl.-Rest. Eva Laabs

Workshop Manager Conservation and Restoration – Metal