A public sculpture depicting The Three Fates ‘spinning and measuring the thread of man’s destiny’. The bronze statue was created by German sculptor Josef Wackerle about 1956 and gifted to the Irish people by the West German people in gratitude for aid in the wake of the Second World War.
Bronze sculpted statue of three robed and hooded female figures cast in two sections, highest figure with left hand raised and holding spool of string, middle figure standing with right hand raised, third and lowest crouching, each figure holding piece of thread. Three brass plaques fixed to top of wall around fountain, that facing east inscribed ‘With gratitude for the help given to German children by the Irish people after World War II. Roman Herzog president of the Federal Republic of Germany 23.03.1997’; inscription repeated in Irish and German. Plaque to south side inscribed ‘This fountain designed by the sculptor Josef Wackerle is the gift of the people of the German Federal Republic to mark their gratitude for Ireland’s help after the war of 1939-45. Group portrays the legendary Three Fates spinning and measuring the thread of man’s destiny’; inscription repeated in Irish on plaque to north.
Operation Shamrock was a scheme bringing refugee children from mainland Europe to Ireland in the aftermath of the Second World War. It was organised by the Irish Red Cross, and involved about 500 children, mostly from Germany, who stayed for three years before returning home.
Irish assistance to Germany reinforced in Britain the perception, fostered by wartime neutrality, that Ireland was pro-Nazi. Conversely, West Germany in the 1950s had gratitude for Ireland’s postwar relief aid, and ties grew between the countries. In January 1956 a memorial fountain sculpted by Joseph Wackerle and commissioned by the German Gratitude Fund was unveiled in St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, by the West German ambassador.
In 1961, the German war cemetery was opened near St Kevin’s Hostel, Glencree, for graves of German aviators killed in Ireland during the war. In 1974, the hostel became the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, which played a role in the Northern Ireland peace process in the 1990s.
German-language courses provided for refugees in Dublin led to the foundation of St Kilian’s German School.
In March 1997, a reunion of over 300 foster-children and families was held at the German embassy in Dublin, attended by Presidents Mary Robinson of Ireland and Roman Herzog of Germany.
As part of The Gathering Ireland 2013, 21 refugee children from Germany, France and Austria returned to Glencree.
Joseph Wackerle (15 May 1880, Partenkirchen – 20 March 1959, Partenkirchen) was a German sculptor. His work was also part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics.
Wackerle’s grandfather was a wood carver, and his father was a builder. He was educated at the School of Applied Arts and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. At 26, he was appointed artistic director of the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory in Munich. From 1913 to 1917 he worked as a teacher at the Museum of Decorative Art in Berlin. He became a lecturer at the Munich Academy, where he taught until 1950.
In 1937, Joseph Goebbels proposed Wackerle, who was the Reich Culture Senator, for the German National Prize for Art and Science. In 1940, on his 60th Birthday, Wackerle received the Goethe Medal for Art and Science after a recommendation from Adolf Hitler. He was highly rated as an artist by the Nazi rulers, and in August 1944 he was named by Adolf Hitler on the list of the most important German sculptors, which freed him from military duty.
After the end of World War II Wackerle continued his artistic career and was still highly regarded in the Munich area. In 1953, he was awarded the Visual Arts Promotion Prize by the city of Munich.
He died in 1959 and is buried in the cemetery of Partenkirchen.
THE WB YEATS STATUE BY HENRY MOORE IN ST STEPHEN’S GREEN
Published on 8 July 2020: “Today, the Office of Public Works is delighted to announce the reopening of the William Butler Yeats Memorial in St Stephens Green Park, following an extensive programme of conservation works including the rejuvenation of ‘Knife Edge’ a sculpture by the internationally renowned sculpture Henry Moore.”
The W.B. Yeats Memorial is situated in an area known as the “Mount”, being a series of irregular terraces, forming an amphitheatre within the park. The creation of the amphitheatre was intentional; to provide an area in the Green that can be used for quiet contemplation or theatre, in the round and oration, reflecting Yeats’ work as a poet & playwright, as much as an informal place for people to gather. It remains today a much loved place, regarded by many as their own shared secret place among the trees.
The sculpture was donated by the W.B. Yeats Memorial Committee and funded by Irish American Philanthropist Mr. J. Kelly and Córas Tráchtála Teoranta. The Committee, who made a formal application to the Office of Public Works to place the proposed memorial in St Stephens Green, as “it was one of Yeats’ favourite haunts.”
The location of the sculpture was specifically chosen for the attractive views of the lake and waterfall obtained from the setting, which was terraced and paved by the Office of Public Works at the time. It has been cited as one of the finest settings for Henry Moore’s ‘Knife Edge’ by such eminent bodies as the Henry Moore Foundation.
Set onto the terrace in front of the sculpture is a plaque giving the sculpture its context as part of the Memorial. This was created by esteemed Sculptor Michael Biggs, the prominent sculptor and graphic designer responsible for the Arbour Hill Memorial Wall and the Series B Irish Banknotes (circulation 1976-1992).
On October 26th 1967, the W.B. Yeats Memorial was unveiled by the Taoiseach, Mr. Jack Lynch. The recent works included; repair and re-laying of pavements, steps and terraces; conservation of bronze sculpture and plaque; and installation of handrails to improve accessibility to the W.B. Yeats Memorial.
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