Hammering Man
📍 Hesse, Frankfurt
A 21-metre black steel worker outside Frankfurt's Messeturm whose motorised arm swings a hammer all day long, one of Jonathan Borofsky's monumental kinetic sculptures.
Outside the Messeturm at Frankfurt’s trade fair stands a 21-metre black steel figure with a hammer in a motorised arm: Hammering Man by American artist Jonathan Borofsky. It was commissioned in 1990 for the tower by developer Jerry Speyer (tower by architect Helmut Jahn).
Why It’s Interesting
Borofsky designed the flat, painted-steel Hammering Man in several scales; the arm moves on a motor so the figure appears to hammer continuously. He says it symbolises the worker in everyone — and Frankfurt’s is one of the largest of the series.
Best Time to Visit
Any time; the piece is outdoors and free. Weekday daytime, when the trade-fair district is busy, has the most atmosphere.
Getting There
At the Messeturm, Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 49, in Frankfurt’s Messe area, close to the Messe/Festhalle transit stops. It makes an easy first stop when arriving from the south on the A5 or A67.
🐿️ Cinnamon was here
Field report
A traveler wrote to me about the last leg into Frankfurt, wanting something strange and not stressful, and this is very easy on the legs: it's standing right there next to a skyscraper. The Hammering Man is a black steel worker, twenty-one metres tall, and one arm swings a hammer up and down on a motor as if the day never ends.
I sat under it on a bench and watched the arm for a full quarter of an hour, counting swings, and lost count at a hundred and something. The artist, Jonathan Borofsky, meant it as a salute to workers everywhere, and I felt oddly seen.
Visitors say it looks best with the tower behind it, and that you should stand back so you can see the whole arm move. I would add: watch it once with a snack.
— Cinnamon 🐿️
📸 Cinnamon's camera roll
Snapshots from our very good boy on the road.
Where it is
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