Skulptur "Der Vorleser"

The sculpture is located in front of the Achim district court.

Information board: "Achim was a stronghold of cigar manufacturing in the 19th century: cigar workers pursued their craft in factories and at home. Even children had to work to support the family. Organized politically and in trade unions, the workers took care of their own education and information. Paid for by the workers, the reader read aloud from political and fiction books while they rolled their cigars. An example of solidarity in action." Helma Poschpiech The two and a half meter high sculpture "The Reader" used to be in the reading garden of the city library and has stood in front of the district court since 2017. The artwork was officially inaugurated on April 7, 1994. At that time, the sculpture was still made entirely of terracotta. However, after several instances of destruction, it was decided to cast the figures sitting on the tower (the reader in the middle and the listening workers) in bronze. Readers were workers in cigar factories who read to their colleagues and received the same pay as their working colleagues - a coveted position.