A tavern in Chicago has this statue above it. But no one knows exactly what it is. The story goes that a German immigrant was inspired by something in hometown or folklore and wanted to have a version of it in Chicago. Does it look familiar to anyone?
https://i.redd.it/ay25ll39tolg1.png
Posted by RoughIntelligent9217
8 Comments
That’s Jesus
Looks like Hercules to me. It was common around the turn of the 20th century for Hercules to be depicted on buildings to represent strength and virtue. Especially so if it was commissioned by an educated German immigrant.
Edit: looking closer I’m not sure if that’s the typical lion pelt associated with Hercules, but this might just be a lower budget sculpture.
Here you`ll find some answers and theories. [https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/64167](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/64167) However, you cannot open it with a German IP address, but a Canadian one worked, for example.
The OP says: It`s named Stone Caveman – and that he wears a bearskin outfit
Carved in 1915 by Nicholas Ivancic, the building owner.
Would be helpful to know what hometown that was (or at least the region). There are loads of local folk tales.
Might also relate to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_man)
St.John the Baptist
maybe not German but Croatian ?
Peter Klepec- a folk character who was a sheep herder , bullied for his weakness and being born out of wedlock but at some point gained supernatural strength
If it’s a specific reference I don’t recognise it, but it seems to be a quite typical representation of a “Wilder Mann” (the Wikipedia article for that has already been linked by u/tufoop5 ). There are similar paintings, statues, sculptures and other representations of this trope in many cities in Germany, including where I live.