The Caller, Bronze sculpture in Mitte, Bremen, Germany.
The Caller is a three-metre, 700 kg bronze figure who cups both hands around the corners of his mouth to amplify a shout. The pose follows Stentor from Homer's Iliad, whose voice was as loud as fifty men together. Since 2007 the sculpture has sat on a ball bearing and can be turned; it normally faces across the Weser.
Radio Bremen commissioned the sculpture from Gerhard Marcks in 1966 for its new television building in Osterholz; Marcks, who had already made the Bremen Town Musicians, proposed a figure calling out. It was unveiled on 24 November 1967 and stood by the Hans-Bredow-Straße studio for almost forty years. When the broadcaster moved to the Stephani quarter, the bronze was relocated to the Schlachte and re-inaugurated on 23 November 2007.
The figure's cupped hands imitate Stentor, the herald in Homer's Iliad whose voice was as loud as fifty men together. Since 2007 the bronze has turned on a ball bearing: it normally faces the Weser, but for the Radio Bremen programme 3 nach 9 it is rotated 180° to look through the glass front into the studio.
The sculpture is located in the Mitte district and sits in a readily accessible spot where visitors can view the bronze details from different angles. It helps to visit at different times of day, as changing light affects how the surface textures and forms appear.
Since 2007 the figure has been mounted on a ball bearing and can be rotated. Normally it faces the Weser, but for the Radio Bremen programme 3 nach 9 it is turned 180 degrees to look through the glass front into the studio. Further casts stand in Perth, on the median of Berlin's Straße des 17. Juni, in Essen and in Frankfurt.
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