For the installation Arrangement mit Kran, Spiegel, Fackelträger und Stabile, a mirror is placed—with the aid of a mobile 21-meter-high construction crane—in front of the torchbearer figureon the north shore of the Maschsee Lake for a period of two months. The figure’s gesture, directed into the distance, is thrown back to the statue itself—creating a narcissistic moment of self-referentiality.

The central perspective of the Sprengel Museum offers a view of the crane and the torchbearer, which form a square arch that visually incorporates Alexander Calder’s 1971 stabile Le Hallebardier (The Halberdier).

With his proposal Jüngling mit Fackel (Young Man with Torch),Hannover-based sculptor Hermann Scheuernstuhl won a competition, initiated by Fritz Beindorff, to beautify the promenade of Maschsee Lake. Contrary to the plans, however, the sculpture of the Fackelträger, completed in 1936, was not actually inaugurated at the Olympic-year opening celebrations for the recreation area at Leinemasch. It was not until a year later that the gold-leafed figure was placed upon the 18-meter-high marble column in front of the Sprengel Museum.
There are a few reasons for the early and controversial discussions surrounding the statue: while the newspaper Niedersächsische Zeitung hailed the “athletically trained, well-formed body,” consistent with National Socialism’s cult of the body, rumors that the sculpture included Masonic symbolism dampened enthusiasm.