Die Badende — Oliver Voss, Hamburg
Oliver Voss · in the lake 2–11 August 2011 · Binnenalster (Inner Alster), Hamburg, Germany
Photo: taken during the installation in August 2011, as published on Street Art Utopia; the photographer is not named in our records.
Die Badende (The Bather) was a temporary floating sculpture by Hamburg creative Oliver Voss: a giant woman whose head and knees broke the surface of the Binnenalster, as if Hamburg’s Inner Alster were her bathtub. She settled off Ballindamm, at the corner of Lombardsbrücke, on 2 August 2011 and was taken apart on 11 August 2011. Source Source Source Source Checked
Gone 2011: dpa (via Bild) reported on 11 August 2011 that her sections were dismantled that afternoon; Die Welt reported that workers began at midday and that she was to be taken apart for storage Source Source Checked
💡 4 things to know
- Hollow, on hidden pontoonsThree hollow floating parts make the bather: a steel cage clad in 30 cm polystyrene blocks, modeled with filler and sealed with polyester resin. The builder’s brief was that floating pontoons carry the head and knees unseen, anchored storm-proof to the lake bed. Source Source Checked
- Three months in a Dresden workshopFigure builder Peter Ardelt made her in his Dresden workshop from the design by Voss and his team; the press release speaks of three months of detailed work, with structural engineers calculating the steel. Source Source Source Checked
- Art project, paid for by a beauty brandThe British cosmetics brand Soap & Glory funded the project; TIME and Fox News described it as an advertisement for the brand. The builder names Markenfilm GmbH as its client. Source Source Source Source Source Checked
- A hard week of weatherShe would not balance or anchor at first, so she settled a little late, on 2 August. On the Tuesday before her removal, Die Welt reported, the wind blew so hard that it turned her head and the anchoring ropes had to be tightened. Source Source Source Checked
📍 Where it was
In the Binnenalster (Inner Alster), off Ballindamm at the corner of Lombardsbrücke, Hamburg, Germany. The sculpture was removed in August 2011. Source Source Checked
Opens a map at 53.5558, 9.9960 (approximate spot on the lake; nothing is there now).
🗓️ Sightings
- 20112 Aug
Press release: settles off Ballindamm
- 20113 Aug
Hamburg Web: in place since Tuesday
- 20117 Aug
TIME: to be craned out 12 Aug
- 201111 Aug
dpa: sections dismantled
- 201112 Aug
Die Welt: taken apart for storage
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark removal. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
Geschafft! „Die Badende“ lässt sich in der Binnenalster nieder
„‚Die Badende’ soll für kurze Zeit zu einem Wahrzeichen der Stadt werden“, so Voss.
“Die Badende is meant to become a landmark of the city for a short time,” says Voss.
Riesen-Nixe beendet Schönheitsbad
“Die Riesen-Nixe hat ihr Schönheitsbad in der Binnenalster beendet.”
The giant mermaid has finished her beauty bath in the Binnenalster.
Nixe beendet Bad in der Alster
“Gerade im temporären Charakter lag der Reiz des Projekts.”
Voss: the appeal of the project lay precisely in its temporary nature.
✅ The facts
- Artist
- Oliver Voss (idea and design); built by Figurenbau Peter Ardelt, Dresden Source Source Source Checked
- Title
- Die Badende (The Bather); the press also called her the Riesen-Nixe (giant mermaid) Source Source Source Checked
- On view
- Settled in the lake on 2 August 2011; taken apart on 11 August 2011 Source Source Source Source Checked
- Planned end
- Announced until 10 August (press release, Hamburg Web); TIME said she would be craned out on 12 August and Fox News said on view until 13 August. Removal began on 11 August. Source Source Source Source Source Conflicting
- Size
- 3.96 m high, 20.45 m long (TIME: 67 feet long, rising 13 feet out of the water) Source Source Source Checked
- Materials
- Steel, polystyrene, modelling filler, polyester resin and paint (Voss); the builder lists polystyrene, steel, fiberglass and special pontoons Source Source Checked
- Location
- Binnenalster (Inner Alster), off Ballindamm at the corner of Lombardsbrücke, Hamburg Source Source Source Checked
- Later fate
- In August 2011 Voss said requests from exhibitors were being reviewed; we found no later source on where the parts went Source Source Unconfirmed
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- Oliver Voss — project documentation and press release (PDF) — 2 August 2011 (press release)
- Figurenbau Peter Ardelt (builder) — project page
- Hamburg Web — 2011-08-03
- TIME NewsFeed (Nick Carbone) — 2011-08-07
- Fox News (Reuters photos) — 2011-08-05 (page metadata)
- Bild (dpa) — 2011-08-11
- Die Welt (Welt Kompakt Hamburg) — 2011-08-12
- Hero image: taken during the installation in August 2011, as published on Street Art Utopia; the photographer is not named in our records. A 16:9 share image was made from it with blurred sides.
Last checked: 6 November 2026 · How we verify art