The top 25 of statue watcher Dettie Veltman: from Abbot Emo to Don Quixote.

November 2011 marked the eight hundredth anniversary of Abbot Emo's pilgrimage to Rome. To commemorate this, Studio 212 Fahrenheit created thirty memorial stones, which initially formed a footpath around the church, but have been located at the entrance since 2020. Studio 212 Fahrenheit also provided a picnic table and an information column (inside the church), which also tell stories about Abbot Emo's journey.

Viewed from a distance, the matte gray steel artwork evokes associations with a mammoth, or—under the right light—with a lion that has captured an antelope. Closer up, the sculpture, which roughly consists of two planes, takes on a more abstract form.

Artist Huib Fens's work provides the long Korreweg with an additional landmark. He took the site plan as his starting point, which he then slid together, cut up, and pulled apart. Thus, according to Fens, the environment itself has been elevated to art.

Gunnar Daan designed a steel structure with two transparent, stainless steel "book leaves." The leaves depict the city in two perspectives. The urban interior takes the form of a stoa: a colonnade. The exterior of the city is represented by towers that merge with the space.

The work is one of ten Stadsmarkeringen (‘City Markers’) installed around Groningen in 1990 under the direction of renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, to celebrate Groningen's 950th anniversary. Standing at this city marker, one experiences tranquility, while nearby a highway and canal pass under a railway bridge. The contrast between the busy traffic on the one hand and the secluded, quiet place on the other marks the boundary.

This artwork by Erick de Lyon consists of seventeen lampposts, arranged in a single line across the Eelderbaan. This line runs parallel to the park's sightlines: the poles also stand in the water.

They are no ordinary lampposts: the lights at the top respond to the wind direction: when it changes, the light at the top also changes color. The wind essentially blows the lights on and off.

The wind directions can be recognized by the following colors:

North - ocean blue
Northeast - white
East - lavender
Southeast - magenta (hot pink)
South - red
Southwest - yellow
West - green
Northwest - blue

A large, mysterious mural has been painted on one of the houses on Zilverlaan in Vinkhuizen. From a broken stone head, reminiscent of an ancient sculpture, sprout all sorts of mushrooms, plants, and trees.

The mural by Nomad Clan, an artist duo from Manchester, features dark colors and melancholic elements, yet expresses optimism. The idea behind the work is that despite all differences, everyone shares one nature, a common foundation. Everyone plays its part.

This colorful 14-piece work lies behind a tragic story: the shards incorporated into it were once collected by Anne de Ruijter de Wildt, a sociology student who was murdered at Noorderstation in 1997. Artist Hans van Bentem did what De Ruijter de Wildt could never do: create a mosaic from the shards.

Neighborhood residents did their bit, by donating shards of cups, plates, saucers, and tiles in droves, which Van Bentem also used in the panels.

Handmade ceramic objects by the artist are placed in the center of the panels. Van Bentem drew inspiration from the student's way of thinking and living. The ceramic objects (including peace signs and hearts) express the "naive, positive outlook of a girl who wanted to change the world," according to the artist.

At first you will see a blue tube that functions as a fountain. If you look closely, you will see that the wavy line of the tube forms the profile of a face. When the fountain starts spouting, the picture becomes complete: the water is the flowing hair of a head that tilts slightly back. For example, it is the unusual materials wind, water and gravity that determine this image. Lugthart was commissioned to design a fountain that would also be interesting when turned off. In the winter you can judge whether this has been successful: then the fountain is always off due to the risk of freezing.

Artist Wladimir de Vries worked on Wisent with an iron sledgehammer for no less than a year and a half. The statue is more than two meters high, three meters long and weighs about ten tons. The hefty figure with her compressed forms and gigantic neck section exudes primal power. Since 1982, the work is impressing passers-by here on the edge of the Noorderplantsoen.

Artist Klaas Lageweg created an appropriate mural for the entrance to the Circus Garage on Korreweg: motorists drive into a circus tent past colourful gypsy wagons and animals. For several years from 1964 and onward, this was the location of circuses visiting the city of Groningen. 

The artwork Rollebollen (‘Rolling Balls’) stems from artist René de Boer's curiosity about the interaction between visual art and the public, on the one hand, and visual art and sound, on the other.

The spheres are made of welded-together brass plates and are filled with various materials such as wooden rods, sand, and marbles. As a result, each sphere has its own unique sound, which is audible when it moves.

Here on Bernouilliplein, the spheres are rolled, climbed, and serve as goalposts: the artist sees the dents in the Rolling Balls as a natural process of wear and tear.

At the entrance to the UMCG Proton Therapy Center stands Aden, a giant boy created from a 3D scan and constructed from 450 stacked glass plates. When illuminated by the sun, his turquoise color is revealed in all its intensity.

Scans, light, radiation, and layered images also play a crucial role in the radiation techniques used primarily for young cancer patients at the Proton Therapy Center. This gigantic figure symbolizes both the scientist who is making great strides in technological and medical development and the power inherent in humankind.

Henk Visch's oeuvre is characterized above all by its enigma. This bronze statue next to the terrace of the Harbor Café shows a man in a kind of yoga pose, resting on his fingertips. The mysteriousness of his works is often reinforced by the titles, such as Secret Life in a Public Body in this case. Does Visch mean by the public body his image or the place where it stands? And what are those secrets?

Bright yellow, ocean blue and then fiery red; the intense colours of Swirl (Wervel) jump and swirl through the car park under Forum Groningen, appearing to splash off the twenty-metre-long LED sculpture. Swirl is a depiction of turbulence; the shape of the sculpture is inspired by a tornado. 

With this work of art, Nicky Assmann created a gigantic video sculpture that does not bring virtual reality neatly to you in a rectangular frame, but as an image that sprawls wildly and organically through space. 

Good to know: 'Swirl' in the Forum Garage is freely accessible between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. The parking garage is accessible via the bicycle cellar / connecting door to the garage. Without a parking ticket, you can contact the control room via the button next to the door, which will then let you in. Or take the car entrance.

Another artwork in an underground parking garage. No gray, monotonous affair here either, thanks to Peter Struycken's light artwork. Twenty light boxes were constructed for this work, positioned on the garage floor. These illuminate the 14.5-meter-high concrete structure that forms the garage's core in ever-changing colors. The principle of the color changes is based on a mixture of red, green, and blue light. By adjusting the intensity of the lights, the color changes are created through mixing.

This light artwork in the parking garage under the Ossenmarkt is freely accessible 24 hours a day. The parking garage is accessible via the main entrance with a bank card or parking ticket. Hold the bank card or parking ticket against the scanner (not too short), and the doors will open.

In this artwork, Kees Verkade has beautifully captured the dynamism and precarious movement of a cycling lesson. The strength of the pushing father is evident in his hunched posture and long stride. The small child barely keeps the handlebars of the large-wheeled bicycle under control. If you look closely, you'll see that the traces of Verkade's sculpting are still clearly visible in the cast bronze.

That the work is now here is a small miracle. Fietsles (‘Cycling Lesson’) stood relatively quietly on the Vismarkt for ten years, starting in 1971, until it was stolen twice between 1981 and 1983 and severely damaged. Each time, the police recovered the missing pieces – once the father in his entirety in a student room – and the artwork was restored. In 1986, the sculpture was moved to its current location, on Ubbo Emmiussingel, where the cycling lesson has continued unabated ever since.

In a wall with a bricked-up window on the corner building of Folkingestraat, Gert Sennema installed a door with a bluestone step in front. Nothing special in itself. However, the door lacks a handle, a way to open it.

Behind this closed door and the missing window lies the history of Folkingestraat. A history that few can recount, because most of the people who once lived there were deported during World War II.

The door appears to be made of solid wood, but upon closer inspection, it turns out to be bronze. Sennema has given it a patina that evokes the texture and color of wood.

‘Portaal’  is one of five artworks that are part of Imagine the past (Verbeeld verleden): a project realized in 1997, for which five artists subtly integrated artworks into the street, alluding to Folkingestraat's Jewish history.

Here, on the corner of Reitemakersrijge and Kleine der A, you'll find the most beautiful public restroom in The Netherlands. Two big names collaborated on this project: architect Rem Koolhaas and photographer Erwin Olaf. They designed the urinal for A Star is Born (1996), a city event that brought together urban planning, architecture, art, and theater in a vibrant blend with the overarching theme of water.

The round restroom consists of two curved frosted glass walls, which together form the yin and yang symbols. The restroom building has a women's section and a men's section, each with its own entrance. A photo collage by Erwin Olaf is displayed on the frosted glass walls. The photos depict "the battle of the sexes."

The restroom is open in the summer and closed in the winter due to the risk of freezing.

The imposing sculpture Ultra – a whopping eight meters tall – is impossible to miss. At first glance, she conforms to well-known beauty ideals and appears impressively tall. The skirt of her enormous gown is draped over a crinoline.

But the woman turns out to be a doll, with an incorrect upper-to-lower body proportion. Her legs dangle beneath the sheer skirt. She has, as it were, elevated into the crinoline, which is mounted on wheels, because she cannot conform to the conventional beauty ideal of long legs, and she moves with prosthetic arms.

With Ultra, Silvia B. created an anti-beauty; a culmination of different types and styles. The postmodernist architecture of Cascade provides a fitting backdrop.

This artwork consists of seven plates arranged in a circle, which together symbolize the cycle of life: the slow rising and falling of the objects represents the process of life and death.

Kringloop (‘Cycle’) suggests both stillness and movement, and invites contact with ‘homo ludens’, the playful human being. You can climb it, walk over it, jump on it, or shelter beneath it. This colossal, monumental sculpture is an instrument to be ‘played’.

For years, this site was a massive construction site, where work was underway to deepen and partially tunnel the southern ring road. The Memory Balcony served as a lookout point from which this immense renovation could be observed.

Now, from this 10-meter-high vantage point, you have a completely different view of the renovated southern ring road (open since September 2024) and the Zuiderplantsoen park above it (open to the public since May 2025).

The historical layering of Groningen was the starting point for the architectural firm Studio L A (Lorien Beijaert and Arna Mačkić), the creators of the Memory Balcony. They incorporated reused elements from the southern ring road into the artwork. Anyone who climbs to the top now will find an original crash barrier, reused concrete, and asphalt. The artwork thus connects the past, present, and future.

Mysteries of Helperzoom are two large artworks at the beginning and end of the Helperzoom route. These two organic sculptures create an ecological connection with the surrounding nature.

The artwork at Europapark station symbolically represents the cross-section of a cattail stem, an aquatic plant abundant in the area. It is made of corten steel and willow branches, interwoven with a living hazel tree. This allows the sculpture to change color with the seasons; green in summer and a bare brown in winter.

Cycle south along the Helperzoom for the other part of this artwork.

The artwork on the south side symbolically represents a copper caterpillar. With this shape, the artist alludes to the presence of the small copper butterfly in the area. The sculpture consists of a natural, living wickerwork of hazel that gradually rises from the ground and then literally grows into the sculpture.

Will Beckers, the creator of Mysteries van Helperzoom, is both a sculptor and an architect of nature. His installations, built from natural materials and sustainable metal structures, are located in various countries around the world.

Kasco is located in an artificial "swamp" that recalls the original wet peat meadow landscape. The intention was that the artwork would be slowly overgrown by advancing reed collars, alders and willows. However, the composition of the soil appears to be different than was thought at the time. As a result, no swamp vegetation has been able to develop and the artwork is still just as "tight" as in the beginning.

[Best view on this work is from point 12 on this route.]

Near the oldest access road from the south to the city of Groningen stands an electricity pylon bearing seven metal "flames," which represent the cycle of the week. On the first day of the week, a flame is lit, and each day another is added. At twenty minutes to eleven in the evening, the number 10:40 lights up on the pylon. This is a reference to the year 1040, when the city of Groningen was first mentioned in a document.

This artwork, like the art installation on the Van Starkenborgh Canal (number 3 on this route), is one of ten city markers installed around Groningen in 1990 under the direction of architect Daniel Libeskind, to celebrate Groningen's 950th anniversary.

From this point on the Hoornsedijk you have a good view of Stadsmarkering S01 Gate Tower Clio by Kurt W. Forster (1935 - 2024).

On and around the grounds of the former Mikkelhorst manor house in Haren, you'll come across bronze objects scattered throughout. Their everyday appearance suggests they've been carelessly abandoned, but they all belong to the artwork "À la recherche du temps perdu" (A search for lost time) by artists Gerard Groenewoud and Tilly Buij.

They were inspired by the ancient (habitation) history of this place. Start at the corner of Warmoezerij and Bongerd, and as you walk past the twelve objects, you'll be drawn into a story of times gone by:

1. Under the trees: boulder with milk carton
2. In the direction of the Jonkerpad, by the water on the bench: glove
3. Go back to the bridge, cross over, left on the lawn: lion stone
4. On the square under the sofa: milkshake cup
5. A little further to the right: overturned chair
6. Go down the square, at the Oude Borg to the right in the hedge: garbage bag
7. Cross the road. On the yard path to the left in the tree wall: wagon wheel
8. Follow the Erfpad, turn right at the corner of Erfpad Oude Middelhorst: milk can
9. Between the trees along the footpath on the Oude Middelhorst: bell beaker
10. Turn left on De Ree, left on the corner at the canal: petroleum can
11. Borgsingel, second path to the right at the bench: take old paper
12. Walk back to the Jufferpad, before the bridge to the Jonkerpad in the grass: punctured football

The driveway to the Oeckelenhof house is marked by a brick wall with the name of the house and a brick statue of Don Quixote sitting on his horse. The sculpture and wall are by Egbert Reitsma (1892-1976), who was also the resident of the Oeckelenhof. Reitsma was a Dutch architect known for his brick architecture. He is also known as a master of bricks. He was also a member of the art circle De Ploeg.

It is unclear why Reitsma chose Cervantes' novel character Don Quixote. The sculpture dates from 1959. Three years earlier, Reitsma had renamed his house, which was originally called Heemstede, the Oeckelenhof, a reference to the first owner/resident Cornelis van Oeckelen (1829-1905), who gained fame as an organ builder.