Once again this year, the Skulpturenmuseum Marl invites you to the traditional Almauftrieb on Saturday, 13 April 2024, around the City-See. Keeping the tradition, the Zwei Burgunder Kühe by Swiss artist Samuel Buri will be brought to the island on City Lake with the help of Technisches Hilfswerk Marl, where they will remain until the end of the summer. Their crossing will be accompanied by music from the Marl alphorn players and a combo from the junges Blasorchester Marl e.V.

The Almauftrieb has been a recurring cultural spectacle in the city of Marl for over 25 years. Previously, the two cow-shaped polyester sculptures "Dorothée" and "Niggel" caused a sensation in Paris in 1972, the year they were created, when they grazed on the Champs-Elysées and characterised the Parisian cityscape with their unexpected presence. Since 1978, they are grazing on the island of the City Lake from spring to autumn, creating a recurring splash of colour in the city centre. The annual Almauftrieb organised by the Skulpturenmuseum celebrates the start of the spring season, which this year takes the form of regular cycle and guided tours of the art in the urban space, the resumption of the series of talks on building culture in Marl and the current programme of events around the exhibition Stefanie Klingemann: PROGRESS.

Samuel Buri was probably one of the best-known Swiss artists in the 1960s and 1970s. Between 1986 and 1993, his works were exhibited several times at the Venice Biennale. Since a visit to the 1969 agricultural fair in Paris, the cow has been a very popular motif in Buri's work. Various drawings, paintings, prints and sculptures can be found, which stand out above all in their colour and form. Samuel Buri first created life-size cow sculptures in the early 1970s. The Zwei Burgunder Kühe from Marl are from a series of 25 cow-shaped sculptures, but are the only two made of polyester. Painted with a colourful flowery meadow and a blue grid system on a white background, one half of the painted cow's body stands for the romanticism of alpine meadows that is often used in advertising. The other half, on the other hand, represents the industrial reality that the domesticated dairy cow has long taken on due to its important and self-evident role in Central European culture.

After a welcome by Mayor Werner Arndt and Museum Director Georg Elben, the two cows "Dorothée" and "Niggel" will set off for their summer quarters next Saturday, 13 April 2024 from 3 pm. The spectacle will be accompanied by music from the Marl alphorn players and a combo from the junges Blasorchester Marl e.V., leading visitors from Ulrich Rückriem's granite sculpture at the Wohnen West apartment block to the outdoor area of the Montana Parkhotel, which is an inviting place to linger and watch. Catering is provided. 

Almauftrieb 2024

Starting point at 3 pm at the residential block Wohnen West, Hervester Straße 8, 45768 Marl
Walk accompanied by music to the outdoor area of the Montana Parkhotel/platform at the City-See
The Almauftrieb 2024 is realised with the kind support of the THW Marl, the Montana Parkhotel and the Freundeskreis Habakuk.