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| Guests at the unveiling of the sculpture "Milestones of Medicine": Peter Rauen, vice chairman of the Council of sports in the Bundestag, Michael Rogowski, former Federal Interior Minister Otto Schily, Werner Wenning, Chairman of Bayer AG, Manfred von Richthofen, Mike de Vries, Managing Director of FC Germany GmbH (from left to right) |
2006/03/30
“Milestones in Medicine” enrich the “Walk of Ideas“
Ceremonial unveiling of the second sculpture in Berlin
Berlin, 30th March 2006 – The unveiling of the giant sculpture entitled “Milestones in Medicine” on the Friedrich-Ebert-Platz in Berlin (near the Reichstag building) on 30th March 2006 took the “Walk of Ideas” into its second round.
Berlin, 30th March 2006 – The unveiling of the giant sculpture entitled “Milestones in Medicine” on the Friedrich-Ebert-Platz in Berlin (near the Reichstag building) on 30th March 2006 took the “Walk of Ideas” into its second round.
The sculpture represents a tablet that is meant to symbolise the inventive spirit of scientists and researchers from Germany in the field of medicine.
Mike de Vries, the Managing Director of FC Deutschland GmbH, welcomed the guests and representatives of the media in front of the still veiled sculpture, and said that in its artistic morphology it presented a field that had turned the term “Made in Germany” into something the whole world recognised. “Researchers like Felix Hoffmann or Gerhard Domagk laid the foundations of Germany’s outstanding reputation in medicine. Health is today rightly one of the most important of all Germany’s export products.”
He then handed over the partner tablet of the national campaign to Werner Wenning, the Chairman of the Management Board of Bayer AG. Mr Wenning emphasised the enduring innovative power of medical research in Germany. “In the past, German medical and pharmaceutical researchers enabled beneficent developments to be made. Without their achievements this would be a different world today. The ‘Land of Ideas’ places the focus on something of which we in Germany can be rightly proud: inventiveness, creative passion, and visionary thinking.”
Afterwards Werner Wenning, Otto Schily the former Federal Minister of the Interior, and Dr. Michael Rogowski, as members of the Advisory Board of the campaign, as well as Mike de Vries carried out the unveiling.
The “Milestones in Medicine” sculpture is ten metres in diameter and three metres thick, weighs a total of about 25 tons, and is freely accessible with immediate effect to the visitors to the “Walk of Ideas”.
The new kind of material used in all the sculptures, Neopor®, was developed by BASF AG and the metal lacquer by BASF Coatings AG in Münster. EDAG Engineering + Design in Fulda produced the sculpture on behalf of FC Deutschland GmbH.
The two sculptures that had already been set up and unveiled in the “Walk of Ideas”, the modern football boot and the Milestones in Medicine, will be followed by the car and then by modern book printing and the masterpieces of music. The final phase, in the middle of May 2006, will be formed by the presentation of the theory of relativity. The six exhibits in the “Walk of Ideas” are to make the spectrum of important German inventions visible by the autumn of 2006 and to become an appealing point of attraction for tourists.
More information about the “Walk of Ideas” can be found at www.land-of-ideas.org.
The initiators
“Germany – Land of Ideas” is a joint national campaign by the Federal Government and German business, the latter represented by the National Federation of German Industry. The aim of the campaign is to present an image of Germany, at home and abroad, as an innovative, cosmopolitan, and enthusiastic country. The patron of the campaign is the Federal President, Horst Köhler. FC Deutschland GmbH under its Managing Director Mike de Vries is co-ordinating the campaign. “Land of Ideas” is supported by numerous German companies and co-operation partners from the worlds of science, culture, and society. The campaign is implementing five core projects: the “Walk of Ideas” sculpture park, the “365 locations in the Land of Ideas” series of events, the FanClub, the international media service, and the welcome campaigns.
Bayer AG
The Bayer Group is a company with worldwide operations and areas of core competence in the fields of health, nutrition, and high-grade materials. It is managed as a strategic management holding company with three operational sub-groups and three service companies. In addition to this there are about 300 companies in practically all the countries of the world. The range of products is enormous, and includes, for instance, probably the world’s best-known analgesic in the world, Aspirin, numerous pesticides, and plastics such as Makrolon for CDs, DVDs, and car windows. As of 31st December 2005 it was employing about 93,700 people, and its sales in 2005 amounted to €27.4 billion.
The partners
adidas-Salomon AG • Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG • Allianz AG • AUDI AG • AWD Holding AG • BASF AG • Bayer AG • Deutsche Bank AG • Deutsche Börse AG • Deutsche Lufthansa AG • DHL • Deutsche Telekom AG • EnBW AG E.ON AG • Fraport AG • Georgsmarienhütte Holding GmbH • HDI Versicherungen • Heitkamp & Thumann Group • IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG Roland Berger Strategy Consultants • RWE AG • Voith AG • Wall AG
Background information on the “Walk of Ideas”
Facts and figures on the “Milestones in Medicine” sculpture
Location: Friedrich-Ebert-Platz, 10557 Berlin
(banks of the River Spree near the Reichstag building)
Dimensions: Diameter 10 metres, width 3 metres
Weight about 25 metric tons
Construction / installation: Steel foundations (4.20 x 4.20 x 1.00 metre) inserted under the paving
Participating companies
Client: FC Deutschland GmbH, “Germany – Land of Ideas”
Idea and design: Scholz & Friends, Berlin
Material development: BASF AG, Ludwigshafen
Lacquer development: BASF Coatings, Münster
Production: EDAG Engineering + Design AG, Fulda
Materials used
The sculpture consists of a steel skeleton construction, 1,000 square metres of fibreglass laminate, and about 300 cubic metres of Neopor®, a further development of Styropor® into the insulating material of the future developed by BASF in Ludwigshafen. The material is coated in a newly developed metal lacquer covering about 260 square metres of the external skin area, which was developed by BASF Coatings in Münster.
Production process
The sculptures are produced in a purely industrial process and basically consist of a new kind of plastic mixture, Neopor®. The bodies of the sculpture are laminated with fibreglass in the same way as a surfboard and then coated with a plastic paste. After being finely moulded each sculpture is triple-coated in a metal lacquer.
Contact
Steffi Würzig
Public Relations Coordinator Germany
Deutschland - Land der Ideen
FC Deutschland GmbH
Unter den Linden 74
D-10117 Berlin
Tel.: +49 (0)-30-206-459-46
Fax: +49 (0)-30-206-459-37
wuerzig@land-der-ideen.de
www.land-der-ideen.de
Mike de Vries, the Managing Director of FC Deutschland GmbH, welcomed the guests and representatives of the media in front of the still veiled sculpture, and said that in its artistic morphology it presented a field that had turned the term “Made in Germany” into something the whole world recognised. “Researchers like Felix Hoffmann or Gerhard Domagk laid the foundations of Germany’s outstanding reputation in medicine. Health is today rightly one of the most important of all Germany’s export products.”
He then handed over the partner tablet of the national campaign to Werner Wenning, the Chairman of the Management Board of Bayer AG. Mr Wenning emphasised the enduring innovative power of medical research in Germany. “In the past, German medical and pharmaceutical researchers enabled beneficent developments to be made. Without their achievements this would be a different world today. The ‘Land of Ideas’ places the focus on something of which we in Germany can be rightly proud: inventiveness, creative passion, and visionary thinking.”
Afterwards Werner Wenning, Otto Schily the former Federal Minister of the Interior, and Dr. Michael Rogowski, as members of the Advisory Board of the campaign, as well as Mike de Vries carried out the unveiling.
The “Milestones in Medicine” sculpture is ten metres in diameter and three metres thick, weighs a total of about 25 tons, and is freely accessible with immediate effect to the visitors to the “Walk of Ideas”.
The new kind of material used in all the sculptures, Neopor®, was developed by BASF AG and the metal lacquer by BASF Coatings AG in Münster. EDAG Engineering + Design in Fulda produced the sculpture on behalf of FC Deutschland GmbH.
The two sculptures that had already been set up and unveiled in the “Walk of Ideas”, the modern football boot and the Milestones in Medicine, will be followed by the car and then by modern book printing and the masterpieces of music. The final phase, in the middle of May 2006, will be formed by the presentation of the theory of relativity. The six exhibits in the “Walk of Ideas” are to make the spectrum of important German inventions visible by the autumn of 2006 and to become an appealing point of attraction for tourists.
More information about the “Walk of Ideas” can be found at www.land-of-ideas.org.
The initiators
“Germany – Land of Ideas” is a joint national campaign by the Federal Government and German business, the latter represented by the National Federation of German Industry. The aim of the campaign is to present an image of Germany, at home and abroad, as an innovative, cosmopolitan, and enthusiastic country. The patron of the campaign is the Federal President, Horst Köhler. FC Deutschland GmbH under its Managing Director Mike de Vries is co-ordinating the campaign. “Land of Ideas” is supported by numerous German companies and co-operation partners from the worlds of science, culture, and society. The campaign is implementing five core projects: the “Walk of Ideas” sculpture park, the “365 locations in the Land of Ideas” series of events, the FanClub, the international media service, and the welcome campaigns.
Bayer AG
The Bayer Group is a company with worldwide operations and areas of core competence in the fields of health, nutrition, and high-grade materials. It is managed as a strategic management holding company with three operational sub-groups and three service companies. In addition to this there are about 300 companies in practically all the countries of the world. The range of products is enormous, and includes, for instance, probably the world’s best-known analgesic in the world, Aspirin, numerous pesticides, and plastics such as Makrolon for CDs, DVDs, and car windows. As of 31st December 2005 it was employing about 93,700 people, and its sales in 2005 amounted to €27.4 billion.
The partners
adidas-Salomon AG • Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG • Allianz AG • AUDI AG • AWD Holding AG • BASF AG • Bayer AG • Deutsche Bank AG • Deutsche Börse AG • Deutsche Lufthansa AG • DHL • Deutsche Telekom AG • EnBW AG E.ON AG • Fraport AG • Georgsmarienhütte Holding GmbH • HDI Versicherungen • Heitkamp & Thumann Group • IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG Roland Berger Strategy Consultants • RWE AG • Voith AG • Wall AG
Background information on the “Walk of Ideas”
Facts and figures on the “Milestones in Medicine” sculpture
Location: Friedrich-Ebert-Platz, 10557 Berlin
(banks of the River Spree near the Reichstag building)
Dimensions: Diameter 10 metres, width 3 metres
Weight about 25 metric tons
Construction / installation: Steel foundations (4.20 x 4.20 x 1.00 metre) inserted under the paving
Participating companies
Client: FC Deutschland GmbH, “Germany – Land of Ideas”
Idea and design: Scholz & Friends, Berlin
Material development: BASF AG, Ludwigshafen
Lacquer development: BASF Coatings, Münster
Production: EDAG Engineering + Design AG, Fulda
Materials used
The sculpture consists of a steel skeleton construction, 1,000 square metres of fibreglass laminate, and about 300 cubic metres of Neopor®, a further development of Styropor® into the insulating material of the future developed by BASF in Ludwigshafen. The material is coated in a newly developed metal lacquer covering about 260 square metres of the external skin area, which was developed by BASF Coatings in Münster.
Production process
The sculptures are produced in a purely industrial process and basically consist of a new kind of plastic mixture, Neopor®. The bodies of the sculpture are laminated with fibreglass in the same way as a surfboard and then coated with a plastic paste. After being finely moulded each sculpture is triple-coated in a metal lacquer.
Contact
Steffi Würzig
Public Relations Coordinator Germany
Deutschland - Land der Ideen
FC Deutschland GmbH
Unter den Linden 74
D-10117 Berlin
Tel.: +49 (0)-30-206-459-46
Fax: +49 (0)-30-206-459-37
wuerzig@land-der-ideen.de
www.land-der-ideen.de
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