Darmstadt (#0115)

Walking from my hotel into the center of town on my first day, I came across the park (see previous photo) which made me realize how much I had missed 45+ years ago. One thing I definitely didn't have an appreciation of back then was of the number of statues around the city, or of their historic relevance.

This statue, which like all statues was largely ignored by people passing by, was surprisingly detailed. The statue appears to be from some time around WWI, depicts two men shaking hands where one is apparently a farmer and the other, I'm guessing, a merchant. The saying, "fest im vertrauen fest in der treue fest im zusammen halt fest in der eintracht in freud und leid" didn't readily translate, but seems to be about loyalty and trust. It would be interesting to know more about the history of the statue.