Art in the city

The market square has always been a meeting place for young and old, for residents and visitors to the town. It was made "traffic-free" in 1983/84. The fountain from 1988, designed by the artist Helmut Schlüter, is a reminder of the Schwengel pump that used to be here, which was used to supply water until 1907.

The Varus sculpture by artist Dr. Wilfried Koch can be found in Kardinal-von-Galen-Park, on Rochfordstraße in Haltern-Mitte.
On permanent loan from the Masthoff Cultural Foundation in Haltern, the sculpture "The Failed Varus", created in 2003 by the Rietberg artist Dr. Wilfried Koch, commemorates the Roman general who, in the year
9 AD with his troops in Germania. The chosen location near the medieval town tower is intended to link the early Roman history with the urban history of Haltern, which only began later.

The Stolpersteine are a project by the artist Gunter Demnig.
These memorials are intended to commemorate the fate of people who were deported by the National Socialists and murdered in concentration camps and extermination camps, among other places.
Initiatives, schools, relatives and surviving dependants research the data of people who were persecuted, deported and murdered during the National Socialist era.
Once the data is available, Demnig produces a concrete cube with an edge length of 10 centimetres, topped with a brass plate. He usually adds the words Hier wohnte (in Zittau also: Hier lebte, in Frankfurt (Oder) also: Hier wirkte), the name, year of birth and the fate of the person, usually the date of deportation or death. The stone is set flush into the sidewalk or street directly in front of the door to the victim's last home.
The Stolpersteine are financed by donations, collections and sponsorships from individual citizens, contemporary witnesses, school classes, professional groups and local authorities. One stone costs 95 euros.

Opposite the Old Town Hall, on the left side of St. Sixtus Church, the "Haltern am See blind touch model" by artist Egbert Broerken (Welver) has been installed. It offers blind and visually impaired people in particular the opportunity to see the sights of the town.
Haltern am See on a scale of 1:350 was cast using the lost wax technique, coated with special wax and then placed on a sandstone plinth. Prof. Broerken developed such bronze city models for blind and sighted people 20 years ago and has registered the copyright to them.
Together with pupils and teachers from the Westphalian School for the Blind in Soest, Egbert Broerken developed the optimal tactility of the models and, together with the Schwab bronze foundry in Münster/Sprakel, a special process for the filigree explanations in Braille. The unusual perspectives open up new views of the city not only for blind people, but also for sighted people.
The Rotary Club, the Masthoff Cultural Foundation and the Society for the Study of Antiquities and Local History donated the Braille model to the city and its citizens.

The so-called "Kiep" is the sculpture of the prize for the cabaret and comedy festival of the same name in Haltern am See. You can reach the "Kiep" sculpture from the train station in the direction of Bahnhofstraße.

The sculpture "K iep " (left), created in 2004 by the Haltern artist Ulrich Schriewer, stylizes a Westphalian Kiepenkerl. In historical times, Kiepenkerle were itinerant traders who brought consumer goods to the villages and even to individual farmsteads, as was typical of the region until the 19th century.
As traveling was not yet so common in earlier times, a Kiepenkerl was a man who traveled far and wide and therefore always had a lot of new stories to tell.
But the Kiep also has another meaning for Haltern am See.
Every two years, the community of organizers of the Kulturboitel holds the "Kiep". This "Kiep" is a cabaret competition that is now known beyond Haltern's borders asthe "Cabaret Prize of the Münsterland". The winner not only receives a cash prize, but also a small Kiep.

The market, popularly known as Gänsemarkt, was designed in its current form in 1990. With the intention of documenting the importance of the Haltern sands and the Haltern water, a fountain and a quartz mineral trail were created here on the initiative of the Haltern business community.
The Gänsemarkt is located in the city center, on the corner of Turmstraße and Gaststiege.
The goose ensemble by the sculptors Janos Gyarmathy (Romania) and Laszlo Szatmari Juhos (Hungary) is a gift from the Plattdeutsche Bühne Haltern from 1992. It underlines the importance of this idyllic spot, which is harmoniously complemented by the gabled half-timbered building from 1611 (house no. 15), the oldest surviving farmhouse in Haltern am See.
To mark the town's anniversary in 2014, the Rotary Club of Haltern am See donated a new sculpture, the"Gänseliesel". Since then, she has watched over the small flock of geese on the Gänsemarkt.
The "Gänsemarkt" has been held here every November since 1999, where vendors of agricultural products from the Haltern area create a market atmosphere just like in the old days.

The sculpture "The Divers", a 2005 work by the Paris-based artist Peter Bracht, is a gift from the Haltern doctor Dr. Rolf-Dieter Beythien to the citizens of Haltern am See.
In April 2005, this sculpture was ceremoniously inaugurated on the newly designed station forecourt, Roost-Warendin-Platz, named after Haltern's French twin town.
The artist himself describes the larger-than-life figures in beautiful blue as two swimmers, one of whom is about to dive into the water and the other who, at the moment of taking off from the diving board, takes off over the diver for a great arc through the air.
This cheerful, almost joyful scene, which depicts life to the full, irresistibly directs the viewer's thoughts to "fun and games in the cool water", as a publication by the local history association on the history of public bathing in Haltern am See puts it.
The sculpture by Peter Bracht thus conveys an association that is entirely in keeping with the thoughts that inspired the new name "Haltern am See": unadulterated joie de vivre in or near water!
The sculpture made of blue clay with a core of polyurethane foam and cardboard emphasizes Haltern am See's connection to the lake and water sports. After visiting various locations, the station forecourt proved to be ideal for this intention: this is where out-of-town visitors get their first impression of the town.

The fountain sculpture by the Raesfeld artist Hermann Kunkler, erected here on Rochfordstraße/Merschstraße by the neighboring financial institution as a gift on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the town in 1989, commemorates the so-called "Essen Raid" in 1652 at this location, where remains of the wall of the old town gate were found when the foundations were laid.
Since 1997, the area around the Merschtor has been decorated with the so-called "Floating Gardens", which were erected with great commitment by the "Haltern aktiv" association.

Legendary figure "Lohmännken" from Haltern am See. The figure by Dutch artist te Kulve was donated by the Haltern CDU Seniors' Association in May 2001.