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Opera House in Graz (Austria), part of "Lichtschwert" sculpture in the foreground to the right
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photo taken by Georg Mittenecker · CC BY-SA 2.0 de

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Kafka's Sword at the Opera

On arrival

Arrive at Opernring in front of the ornate Neo-Baroque Opera House and stand beneath the 54-metre raw steel lattice tower.

Look closer

Examine the exposed steel lattice framework, observing how Eiffel's internal skeletal engineering is revealed without its outer copper skin. Look up at the figure's raised right hand holding an illuminated sword, and notice the steel sphere balanced in its left hand.

Concludes the route with a stark structural dialogue between historicist ornament and raw literary-inspired avant-garde engineering.

Standing directly in front of Fellner & Helmer's ornate Neo-Baroque Opera House (opened 1899) at Opernring, Hartmut Skerbisch's Lichtschwert sculpture presents a dramatic visual collision. Erected in 1992 for the steirischer herbst avant-garde festival to mark the 500th anniversary of Columbus reaching America, this 54-metre raw steel lattice sculpture is a 1:1 structural skeleton reconstruction of Gustave Eiffel's internal load-bearing frame for the Statue of Liberty (1883), stripped entirely of its copper skin. Skerbisch modified the figure's right hand to hold an illuminated sword instead of a torch—a detail taken directly from Franz Kafka's novel fragment Der Verschollene (Amerika). Originally created as a temporary installation, it provoked fierce municipal debate before the city voted to retain it permanently.

Accessibility at this stop

No physical accessibility details regarding the surrounding pavement, viewing angles, or pathways are provided for this outdoor sculpture stop.

These notes describe known conditions at this stop. Urban conditions can change, so assess the situation on site.

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