Groningen City Boundary Markers - The Well

This is the tenth and final blip in the Groningen City Boundary Marker series. Previous entries:

Book C
Book R
Book U
Book O
Book N
Book I
Book N
Book G
Book A

This map shows the location of all the boundary markers. Groningen received the town charter in 1040. As part of the celebrations to mark is 950th anniversary, it was decided to erect a series of markers indicating the boundaries of the city and spelling its ancient name CRUONINGA, as you can see in the list of entries above. This year is the 20th anniversary of the city boundary markers. By now, people are used to seeing the markers but it's my guess that relatively few people know about all the markers or the story behind them.

I have created a Picasaweb album that contains all the images and their exact locations. This will allow you to view a map of Groningen and see where all the markers are. If you have Google Earth, you can click a special link that will load all the markers as well. Click here to view this album.

The sign next to this marker, located in the city centre, says:

This work of art is one of ten so-called City Landmarks (Stadsmarkeringen), which were made to honour the 950th anniversary of the City of Groningen in 1990. The group of statues designates the various inroads into Groningen as 'city gates'. The architect Daniel Libeskind created the master plan for this project. His starting point was the ancient city name of 'Cruoninga'. This name signified to the architect the complex structure of Groningen's society. Every letter of the word, linked to a city landmark, denotes an aspect of this society. Ten participants from various disciplines designed a work of art based on the master plan.

Philosopher Paul Virilio designed the tenth sign - a well - for the city centre. The angular points of the well refer to the nine landmarks on Groningen's outskirts. Until 1672 the Church of Sint-Walburg was situated on Martinikerkhof. There was a water well where the city landmark now stands. Virilio maintains that modern man needs a focal point in his life so he may be able to dream. This well might be such a place. It provides a 'view' of the earth's core and also connects centre with periphery. Furthermore, it lays bare the city's past and brings about new connections.