In addition to the Kurparkschlösschen, the “little mermaid with catfish” is probably the most photographed object on the Herrsching lake promenade.
The creator of the bronze sculpture, Hildegard Grotewahl, celebrated her hundredth birthday in the best of health on the opposite side of the lake.
Dießen / Herrsching
- “You can get old here. I feel safe and well looked after, ”said the Augustinum director Claus Ammer, who is currently looking after six over centenarians in his house. Grotewahl's recipe for getting old is very simple: No smoking and no alcohol for a lifetime. And in order to stay mentally fit, she recommends playing rummy regularly, as she still does today.
Hildegard Grotewahl used to have her own perfumery in Munich-Laim, but lived on the Wörthsee. She raised two daughters and at the age of 50 decided on a professional turning point, "because I had an artistic talent slumbering in". She was trained by the well-known sculptor Antje Tesche-Mentzen at Simssee and quickly made a name for herself with her own bronze sculptures. She did not want to earn money with it, because she gave many communities the mostly life-size statues and sculptures.
In front of the town hall in Steinebach there is a bronze catfish, in the aerospace center Oberpfaffenhofen the “Ikarus”, in the municipality of Weßling a mermaid with a frog, in Herrsching the mermaid and in the Dießen Augustinum Park the “Fortuna” and the “Augustinus”. The reason for their generosity - such a figure costs up to 20,000 euros - is simple: “I live in the Fünfseenland, a beautiful area, and in this way I would like to thank my homeland.” Generous to others, humble to myself. Your preferred menu for your birthday meal: vegetable soup and potato gratin. This was also enjoyed by her family of 16, including four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. By the way, her two daughters are already 75 and 68 years old.