Düsseldorf's cartwheeler: Difference between revisions

{{UnreferencedMore citations needed|date=DecemberJuly 20142023}}

The '''Düsseldorf's cartwheeler''' (''Radschläger'' in German) is the oldest tradition of [[Düsseldorf]] and became one of their famous [[Landmark|landmarks. The symbol of the cartwheel is found on many souvenirs and various naming Düsseldorf again]]. This tradition was honoured in 1954 by the erection of a fountain, called Cartwheeler's Fountain, in Düsseldorf's ''[[Burgplatz]]''.<ref name="Tourism">{{cite web |url=https://www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de/en/attractions/radschlaegerbrunnen-radschlaeger-fountain-d40ada17d4 |title=Radschlägerbrunnen (Radschläger fountain) |last= |first= |date= |website=City of Dusseldorf |publisher= |access-date=26 July 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

The best known version is the [[battle of Worringen]]. [[Adolf VIII, Count of Berg]], defeated the [[Archbishop of Cologne]] in this battle in 1288. As a result of the victory, Düsseldorf received city rights. According to the story, the custom stems from the population and especially the children running for joy and making cartwheels on the streets .

Another narrative style is about a [[wedding procession]], in which the wedding carriage's wheel broke. To ward off the impending disaster, a boy jumped into a coach, and held the wheel. Whether the wedding was that of [[Jan Wellem]] and [[Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici]] or to the wedding of the Margravine [[Jakobea of Baden]] with [[Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg|Johann Wilhelm of Jülich-Cleves-Berg]], is controversial. A further modification takes on these second wedding. The bride is supposed to have been very unhappy with her marriage, but the cartwheelers and their coach's skills would have made her laugh.

Late 19th century and early 20th century, many travelers came to the city for major exhibitions -the forerunners of today's fairs. The children discovered that cartwheels was a lucrative source of income, as the incoming bourgeois payedpaid them up to a penny for what they thoughthought was a "local and patriotic" symbol.

In 1945, after the war-evacuated [[Jan-Wellem monument]] was brought back to the city, not only torches and fanfare accompanied it, but also cartwheeling boys.

Cartwheelers are found in several [[Fountain|fountains]] in the city. The best known is '''''Radschlägerbrunnen ''''' (Cartwheeler Fountain) in the Burgplatz, created in 1954 by Alfred Zschorsch, with [[Hans Müller-SchlössersSchlösser]]'s inscription "''Radschläger wantedwolle mer blieve, aswie jeck et de Minschen och drieve''" (roughly translated as "We want to cartwheelkeep being cartwheelers, no matter how crazy isthe thatworld peoplemight also drivesbe"), created in 1954 by [[Alfred Zschorsch]].<ref Evenname="Tourism"></ref> street maintenance hole covers and door knockers of [[Saint Lambertus Church]], designed by [[Friedrich Becker]], who also created the cartwheelers in front of the Düsseldorf's shopping mall [[Schadow-Arkaden]].

In 2001, the [[project Radschläger-Kunst|project ''Radschläger-Kunst'']] (Cartwheeler-Art) started, consisting in the creation of over 100 cartwheeler sculptures by professional and amateur artists. The sculptures, which used Saint Lambertus Church door knockers as a starting model, are two meters high and wide and have a depth of 30 centimeters. They were distributed in the urban area and only a part was purchased at the end of the year from private individuals or companies.