In the Land of Elves and Trolls

For the historic setting of Reichardts Garten in Halle (Saale) Corocord’s rope architects realised a very special type of rope play sculpture. Their brief was to create a new playground in the midst of a remarkable group of old trees including botanical rarities like the Montpellier maple and the dawn redwood – a playground that the Urban Planning Office of the city of Halle wanted to evoke the world of elves and trolls. The resultant Elves’ Horn playground blends the cave life of trolls with the magic world of elves. Very sensitive planning was called for here to harmonise the playground with its rich historical surroundings. The clear and transparent structures we created from ropes and membranes blend perfectly into the setting as they maintain the central perspectives of the historical landscaped park while also providing a contemporary element as a counterpoint.

A Play Sculpture of ropes and membranes

The Elves’ Horn is an innovative construction of stainless steel arches, ropes and membranes that were specially made for this project. Kids can climb to their heart’s content along the Elves’ Horns arched structure, one third of which is immersed in the ground. The centrepiece of the five stainless steel arches is a very special attraction, because this is the start of the stainless steel slide decorated by graffiti artist Torsten Rachu which takes the tiny climbers on an exhilarating ride and drops them off near the cone end of the Elves’ Horn. This is a metal clad cave and the entrance to the fantasy world of trolls and their fascinating histories – histories as rich as that of Reichardts Garten in Halle (Saale).

The history of Reichardts Garten

In 1794 the composer and publicist Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 – 1814) bought the ‘Kästnersche Gut’ country estate near the town of Giebichenstein. Reichardt’s country house soon became a meeting point for famous poets and scholars including figures like Goethe, Brentano and Tieck. Reichardt landscaped the estate gardens in the English manner, turning them into a landscaped park.
After Reichardt’s death the estate went through a variety of owners until it was acquired by the city of Halle in 1902 and turned into a park open to the public. The subsequent modifications to the listed park have carefully preserved its original character as a landscaped park in the English style up to the present day. Various children’s playgrounds have been added since it was first opened to the public – to which our novel and distinctive climbing equipment now comes as a new and valuable addition.