Painting

the lions

for Hermann

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- One by one, the cast-iron lions that will guard Hermann are being sandblasted and painted in preparation for assuming their places on the monument.

The lions, which were cast in a Chinese foundry, arrived in town about two weeks ago, according to Assistant City Manager Tom MacAulay.

Bloedel Monument Company is doing the sandblasting, and the painting is being done at New Ulm Body Shop Inc.

The job of painting the lions to match the Hermann statue rests in the talented hands of Rich Weikle, who has worked five years for Tom Haala painting mostly cars.

All Weikle has to guide him is Hermann's winged "ear," which was broken off during a wind storm several years ago and what he can see of Hermann himself.

He's working on the first lion, having covered the beast, including its base, with an olive green priming coat.

Then, the fun begins.

Using color charts, Weikle is trying to select the hues that will best replicate the colors found on the wing from Hermann's helmet.

"I'm going to use a stucco color for the base to match the area where he will be placed," Weikle explained. "Then, I think I'll use a couple shades of green, one which is almost black but isn't."

Then, he will have to match the patina, the oxidized coating that covers Hermann's copperish body. He'll be using three or four paint sprayers to achieve an air brush effect in blending the colors. When it's all finished, he'll follow with a clear, flat coat.

"They don't want it to have a shiny coat," he said.

Weikle expects to spend four to six hours on the first lion because of the experimenting required to get the right look, not counting several trips out to the monument to check the colors.

If that sounds like an artist at work, it's with good reason. Weikle paints watercolors in his spare time.

"I enjoy painting and working with colors," he said.

He's not at all afraid to tackle the 8-foot-long, 2,200-pound lion.

"He asked to do it," said body shop owner Tom Haala, whose shop has painted a statue and the bell that hangs in the fire station, but nothing quite like these lions.

"I was a little surprised that the lions aren't finished a little better," Haala said.

His crew will have to do a fair amount of touch-up, including hiding the metal screws used to piece together the statue. In addition, they'll have to fill the nearly half-inch gap running the length of the roof of each lion's mouth.

The finished lions will go into storage in a Public Utilities warehouse until all four are finished and ready to be installed. In the meantime, Weikle will be working to make the lions similar in coloration, but "not identical."

When the lions are placed on the pedestals at the base of the Hermann Monument, the design of architect Julius Berndt will finally be complete.

The Hermann statue was erected and dedicated in 1897. Hermann is honored as the liberator of Germany from Rome in 9 A.D. and is considered the father of Germanic independence.