What you’re looking at isn’t just another statue.
It’s the Goddess of the Vines.
And somehow, this strange-looking statue manages to squeeze a good chunk of Munstergeleen’s history into one piece of art.
Wine. Music. Carnival… and even horses eating oats.
Yeah… oats.
The story goes back to Munstergeleen’s wine festivals, which started in the late 1960s and became closely connected with Fanfare Juliana. (Yeah you guessed it, I got that from GPT)
Years later, the wine thing became more than just a festival. People actually planted vines on the Wanenberg and started producing wine locally.
Then you’ve got carnival.
And the old nickname for people from Munstergeleen: Haverbülle.
Apparently, back when horse-drawn wagons passed through the village, drivers would stop here to rest, grab a drink, and feed their horses. The horses ate from bags filled with oats, or haver.
Somehow, that little piece of village history survived. And eventually, all of it came together in this statue.
Anyway… I won’t bore you with all the details.
Just know this statue has a pretty cool story behind it.
I took a few shots that morning, but I liked this perspective the most.