Imperia — Attraction in Baden-Württemberg

The Imperia statue at the harbor of Constance, Germany, commemorates the Council of Constance (1414-1418) (sculptor Peter Lenk, 1993). The Imperia represents a woman holding two men in her hands (Pope Martin V [on the right] and the Emperor Sigismund [on the left]). Both are naked (vulnerable) except for the crown and papal tiara that they wear as symbols of their "power". The image is a critical satire of the morals of the clergy (medieval metaphor of power and authority), which controls and seduces cardinals and princes at the Council of Constance (selfanointed consensus group) and has influence (ecclesiastic vs....

The story of this statue goes something like this: Men from three different countries frequently visited Konstanz to hire prostitutes. This gave the prostitution industry great influence on the town’s economy and politics. This statue of the famous Italian courtesan Imperia with her overtly sexual image holds smaller representations of a king and a cardinal in her hands. Her gigantic stature in comparison symbolizes the enormous influence prostitution used to hold in Konstanz. the statue was opened to the public with some controversy in the...

Imperia is a statue at the entrance of the harbour of Konstanz, Germany, commemorating the Council of Constance that took place there between 1414 and 1418. The concrete statue is 9 metres high, weighs 18 tonnes, and stands on a pedestal that rotates around its axis once every three minutes.It was created by Peter Lenk and clandestinely erected in 1993. The erection of the statue caused controversy, but it was on the private property of a rail company that did not object to its presence. Eventually, it became a widely-known landmark...