In winter, the river god guards geese
Episode 10 of the journey through the cultural heritage sites
The landscape along the Oder has a very special charm in winter. The land seems even more vast, more barren and even less inhabited. If there is snow on the bare fields, the vastness merges with the sky and the horizon blurs. After a long period of frosty nights and days, ice forms on the riverbed of the Oder. When the ice floes rise to the water surface, they offer a special natural spectacle. The "Brieg geese" dance downstream, spinning in circles. The name of the round ice floes probably also comes from the Silesian language. It was coined in the old German town on the Oder, Brieg, which today has the Polish name Brzeg. The winter spectacle can be easily observed at the ferry dock in Güstebieser Loose. There, where Viadrus towers over the scene and listens to the cracking and creaking of the ice floes rubbing against each other. In summer, however, the red river god watches over the Oder ferry "Bez Granic", which commutes across the border river to Goszdowice (Güstebiese in German) in Poland. The idea for this mythological figure goes back to an initiative by the Bad Freienwalde ophthalmologist Ernst-Otto Denk. The guardian of the river was designated a cultural heritage site in 2018.
The three-meter-high and five-meter-wide sheet steel sculpture, designed by sculptor Horst Engelhardt, has been standing on the Oder since 2009. Originally, the river god was to be supported by two women, a yellow Oder princess on the Polish side of the ferry and a blue Oder mermaid at the crossing between Neulewin and Altlewin. Of this mythological trio, only Viadrus was ever realized. The installation in the Oder floodplain was accompanied by a number of bureaucratic hurdles, explains local historian Ernst-Otto Denk. According to the initial ideas, the sculpture was to stand in silhouette on the Oder meadow and thus be exposed to seasonal flooding. The authorities then suggested placing Viadrus on the existing small hill. Horst Engelhardt took another look at his design and stabilized it with a horizontal figure. At Oderberger Stahlbau GmbH, the two parts were cut out of 15 mm thick ship steel and transported by ship to the Güstebieser Loose landing stage. With the help of a crane, the two “paper cutouts” were put together.
How did the river god get his name? Whether the Oder was formerly known as Viadrus has been a matter of debate among historians over the years. Both Viadus fl. and Odera fl. describe the course of the Oder on maps from the 16th century. Ernst-Otto Denk received his oldest evidence of this name unexpectedly from a time-honored institution. When he asked the Vatican archives whether the name Viadrus was known, he was sent a copy of a map from 1478. This also calls the river Viadus fl.. The amateur historian has studied the history of the river for decades and networked with historians such as Professor Ludwig Braun in Frankfurt/Main. Among other things, Braun helped him with the translation of historical sources. Professor Ludwig Kempe, who comes from a medical dynasty in Oderberg and lives in the USA as a famous neurosurgeon, also helped Ernst-Otto Denk with his research. He asked the American National Library whether there were any documents on Viadrus. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful, and no entry was found. The local historian has good relations with the University of Breslau. There he looked for further clues to the name. In the former Jesuit college in Breslau, for example, there are two works of art with Viadrus personifications. And even the University of Frankfurt/Oder has the term in its name. Hundreds of years ago it was called Alma Mater Viadrina.
Today, God Viadrus symbolizes the river as a connecting element of a European national border. The ferry dock for crossing the river seems to be a well-chosen place for his location.
Cultural Heritage Site: River God Viadrus, At the Güstebieser Loose Ferry, Fährstraße, L34, 16259 Neulewin OT Güstebieser Loose
For more information about the Oderbruch Museum and the cultural heritage in the Oderbruch, please see here.