Gutenberg Monument

The bronze statue at a height of 11 ft 8.55 in (3.57 m) depicts Johannes Gutenberg standing, and in a medieval costume; he holds in his right hand several movable types, and supported by his left arm the first printed Bible. In one of the bas-reliefs, Gutenberg is seated before a type case and showing the types to his collaborator, Johann Fust; the latter is leaning upon one of the engraved blocks in use before the invention of movable types. The other bas-relief represents Gutenberg examining a printed sheet, taken from the new press, upon which a printer is at work.^[2][3][4] An inscription upon the face socle reads, in Latin:^[4]

Another inscription at the rear of the socle reads:^[5]

By the early 19th century Gutenberg became the subject of Romantic glorification,^[1] while the German city of Mainz and the French city of Strasbourg were embroiled in a civic rivalry^[3] in the context of the larger nationalist enmity between Germany and France.^[6] The cities, both of which he resided in,^[7] laid claim to Gutenberg as an icon: Mainz being his birthplace, and Strasbourg being where he allegedly experimented with movable type.^[3][8]

Mainz became the first to honor the inventor with a statue, employing Danish-Icelandic artist Bertel Thorvaldsen,^[3] though he did nothing further than make a miniature model of the statue. The statue had been ordered by the city of Mainz, in 1832; and the statue was made from small models by his pupil Herman Wilhelm Bissen and some preparatory drawings.^[a] All the work was cast in bronze at Paris, by Charles Crozatier [fr], in 1836; and the monument was inaugurated at Mainz on 14 August 1837. The city, to thank Thorvaldsen, who would not accept any remuneration for his models, made him an honorary citizen.^[10] The statue was dedicated in a three-day ceremony attended by delegates from all Germany, although Thorvaldsen himself did not see the monument until 1841.^[11]

Thorvaldsen's rival David d'Angers, perhaps provoked by the monument in Mainz, went on to design a statue of Gutenberg in Strasbourg, which was unveiled in 1840.^[12]

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  Detail of the statue
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  Detail of first bas-relief: Gutenberg showing types to Johann Fust
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  Detail of second bas-relief: Gutenberg at a printing press
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  German postcard featuring the monument, c. 1900