The Loriot Sofa Statue in Bremen

A bronze replica of the Loriot sofa, well-known in Germany from the Loriot television series, commemorates the successful collaboration between comic Vicco von Bülow, aka 'Loriot', and broadcaster Radio Bremen.

In November 2013, Radio Bremen placed a bronze replica of the famous green sofa from the Loriot television series outside their building to commemorate the broadcaster's successful collaboration with the German comedian Vicco von Bülow. The pug dog that sits on it played a key role in some of Loriot's most famous sketches. Since then the sofa has become a popular place for Loriot fans to sit and to take some pictures.

The Life of Loriot

Born Bernhard-Viktor Christoph-Carl von Bülow on 12 November 1923 in Brandenburg an der Havel, Loriot was a popular writer and comedian from the 1950s until his death on 22 August 2011 in Ammerland by Lake Starnberg. He was also a cartoonist, actor, director and stage and costume designer, and was made an honorary professor of theatre by the Berlin University of the Arts in 2003. In 1976, he joined Radio Bremen, where he produced his Loriot TV series until 1978. The episodes, each 45 minutes long, consisted of sketches and short cartoons. This period saw some of his best-known work, and much of it has gone down in German television history, for example 'Die Nudel' and 'Das Frühstücksei'. Loriot would host his TV show on a green sofa, and now a bronze replica of it invites locals and visitors to take a seat next to his favourite animal, the pug dog.

A 600 Kilogramm Bronze Sculpture

The sculpture is based on a model by Osnabrück-based artist Herbert Rauer, who took photos of the sofa from various angles and built a wooden model based on them. Thomas Schmalz, of Bremen-based foundry Statuarius, then created the bronze sculpture in an elaborate process. The final artwork weighs around 600 kilogrammes and has a wall thickness of between five and eight millimetres. In total, approximately 6.5 square metres of surface area were poured.

Loriot is closely associated with Bremen, having spent an important part of his career here, and he was presented with the first Bremen Town Musicians Award in 2009. By this time, he was too ill to accept his award in person, so he drew his own version of the Bremen Town Musicians, featuring his famous pug dog, as a thank you. The picture made such an impression on the award organisers that they decided to give reprints of it to future award winners.