Trafo-Haus Travemünder Allee in Lübeck, Germany

When it was built in 1938, the small building had the function of transforming electricity for the tram line that passed by at that time. Stylistically, the architecture is rather insignificant, a closed room for the transformer a gable roof and a porch under which waiting passengers could find shelter.

Created at a time when politics permeated every fiber of everyday life, the triangular work of art consisted of depictions of two farmers, a carpenter, a forest worker, a hunter and a postman. A marching soldier could also be seen. The figure of an SA man with a waving swastika flag was particularly striking. The gable of the work of art was crowned by a figure whose form and function cannot be determined even in the original images.

With the end of the war and denazification, the SA man and a second figure disappeared. Also gone are the weapons of the marching soldier and another swastika carving.

In their place we now find a mother with her child and a woman who probably represents a nurse.

The carving was created by sculptor Otto Mantzel from Lübeck, an artist who was very popular during the Nazi era. After the tram line was shut down, the building now stands without any purpose or function on a busy country road and cannot be reached from there. Nevertheless, it manages to attract the attention of drivers.

It is officially recognized as a cultural monument.