Now that the terraces are open again, we can finally go out for dinner, watch people, but also… look at art. These nine terraces overlook a work of art. Choose your location, read in advance and surprise your terrace date with an anecdote.
1. The terrace of café De Sigaar on the Hoge der A
Mix 80 ml. Apfelkorn, 80 ml. Passoa and 80 ml. cassis and you have a frog. The cocktail would not look out of place on the menu of De Sigaar, where Jan Steen's cheerful frog artwork has been standing between the tables since 2011. This one goes from lifelike tadpole to a frog fantasy figure with a long beak in six steps. The initiative to create a terrace with artwork on this spot comes from real estate entrepreneur Wijnand van Smeden. He probably chose this location not entirely coincidentally: his own office is a few doors away, at number 4.
2. The terrace of café het Pomphuis on the Kleine der A
What do you get when you let the Netherlands' most famous photographer (Erwin Olaf) and most famous architect (Rem Koolhaas) work together? The most beautiful public toilet in our country. On the outside it is printed with scantily clad dancing disco figures. This immediately made the urinal a symbol of the 'kinky' gay community of Groningen when it was built (in 1996). Is your patio date a bit esoteric? In that case, it should not be forgotten that the building is in the shape of the yin-yang symbol: so if you want balanced lighting, you have come to the right place.
3. The terrace of café De Kale Jonker on the Zuiderdiep
Asking whether someone can walk in a straight line for a while: the classic test to see how someone's alcohol intake is doing at that time. Sculpture Stap by Eja Siepman van den Berg shows it for a while, right in front of the art academy. It would have been close if the view from De Kale Jonker had been very different: until well into the 1970s there were advanced plans to turn the Zuiderdiep into a five-lane thoroughfare. It never happened. Instead of rushing traffic, you now look at a petrified walk-in-the-making: the walker has won over the car here.
4. The terrace strip of the "Ramblas of Groningen" at Gedempte Kattendiep
Good question for your terrace date: how does a work by an Italian artist - which refers to the Franco-Algerian war of the 1960s - end up in Groningen? Answer: Vindicat. The student association existed in 1965 for a century and a half, visited an exhibition in the Keukenhof that same year and ran into Pierluca Degli Innocenti's The Great Rift (De grote verscheuring). In it, the corps members immediately saw a logical gift for Groningen, to underline their relationship with the city. So it happened. Until 1994 the work was housed on the Grote Markt, then it disappeared from the scene for ten years, only to see the light of day again in 2004 on the Kattendiep. There it is now on the other side of the natural habitat of Vindicat: the terrace.
5. The terrace of the Newscafé on the Waagplein
Is your patio date an art and architecture lover? You are in the right place on the terraces of the Goudkantoor and Newscafé. A true architectural riot took place here in the mid-1990s after a concrete office colossus had been demolished and Groningers were allowed to vote what had to be replaced. No less than 84 percent opted for the historicizing design of the Italian Rudolfo Natalini. "Anton Pieck architecture!", grumbled competitor Gunnar Daan, who called on the municipality not to yield to "the unskilled judgment of the bourgeoisie". But: vox populi won and the Waagstraat complex was completed. It marked the breakthrough of postmodernism in the Netherlands.
Natalini approached two artists to create works for the complex. First of all, Janet Mullarney. The Irish / Italian artist created the floating sculpture Farsi Largo / Making space. The copper wires between the wooden figures symbolize the communication between two people - and that fits above the terrace. A conversation piece pur sang, this work by Mullarney.
6. The terrace of the Goudkantoor on the Waagplein
The second artist Natalini approached was fellow countryman Roberto Barni, who made Appuntamento con la musica. And no, you are not drunk yet! This work by a man who, while playing the flute, walks forward but at the same time looks back 180 degrees, also creates confusion in a sober state. The flutes were broken several times by people who were really confused - and always replaced by ones made of even stronger material.
And then there is the bust of Carl von Rabenhaupt on the corner near the Goudkantoor. Fine man who liberated Groningen from the bishop of Münster on 28 August 1672 after a five-week siege. Since then, August 28 has been a public holiday in Groningen, known by the bishop's nickname: Bommen Berend. Someone who takes care of a holiday certainly deserves a bust. Of course you can also toast to Carl, on all days.
7. The terrace of the MendiniRestaurant of the Groninger Museum
A bridge that opens is not always a party, but it is now: as soon as the H.N. The Werkmanbrug rises because an enormous tableau unfolds, which appears to consist of Delft blue tiles and ostensibly has an Old Dutch appearance. But nothing is what it seems: the "tiles" are sticker sheets on which non-existent children's games are written, and the work is not old-Dutch, but comes from a contemporary Belgian: Willem Delvoye. Groningen gave Groningen not one Manneken Pis as a present, but a whole series. Furthermore, a lot of winds and buttocks. Nephews and nieces will therefore also greatly appreciate this work.
8. The terrace of the Harbor Café in Voor 't Voormalig Klein Poortje
The artwork Secret Life in a Public body by Henk Visch has improved in terms of location: it stood in an underground parking garage at Westerhaven for five years. Since 2009 it has been above ground at the Oosterhaven. Anyone who thinks to put the toiling work in a relaxed position for a while must come from a good family: the work weighs 530 kilos.
9. The garden terrace of the Prinsenhof
Style, class, beauty: you will find it all here. According to Wim Pijbes, former director of the Rijksmuseum and Museum Voorlinden, the Prinsentuin is the most beautiful Renaissance garden in the Netherlands. And according to sundial expert Willy Leenders, this is where the most beautiful sundial in our country can be found. It has inimitably indicated time since 1743, and contains a fantastic motto: "The past time is nothing, the future uncertain, the present shaky. Don't waste yours ". Anyone sitting on the patio never wastes their time - and we cannot be reminded of that enough. Cheers!
You can find all locations here on this map.
Note: This article is translated using Google Translate