The elephant cow Tuffi became famous with her jump from the Wuppertal suspension railway. She fell into the Wupper in 1950 and was uninjured. Now a memorial reminds her of her in Oberhausen. It should show that the circus animal had a strong character.
Oberhausen/Wuppertal (dpa/lnw) – Tuffi became famous more than 70 years ago with her spectacular jump from the Wuppertal suspension railway. Now the circus elephant cow has also been erected a monument in Oberhausen. The bronze sculpture by the sculptor Jörg Mazur was installed at a dizzy height in front of the LVR Industrial Museum on Thursday. It is framed by four steel arches that were once made in Oberhausen for the Wuppertal Suspension Railway.
When looking up, the impression of a floating elephant should be created, as Mazur explained. Two short support tubes hold the work of art, which weighs around 1.2 tons, in its position directly above a street. The elephant cow is also said to be a symbol of heavy industry and the “huge amounts” of steel produced in the Ruhr area.
Tuffi was also in Oberhausen a few days before the jump from the Wuppertal suspension railway because the circus was initially stationed here. In an advertising campaign, the elephant cow also rode a tram.
Mazur, for whom animals are an important, recurring theme in his work, writes about his project: “As easy as her jump from the suspension railway was for her and also for the circus director at the time, it still stands for it to this day like an exclamation mark that here an animal has put up a very strong fight against extremely questionable treatment in human care.” And: “Tuffi obviously had character, which is why it was important to me right from the start of my work that the end result was a figure with a posture and an overall expression that represented this personality with dignity.” For this reason, Tuffi doesn’t just hang under the steel arches, but strides through the air as if she were walking on clouds, explains the artist.
According to Mazur, the idea for the “Elevated Levitated Elephant” project came about in 2015/16. The bronze sculpture is about 1.70 meters high and 2.40 meters long. In addition to funding, almost 12,000 euros were collected for the project from well over 100 supporters. Looking back, Mazur also refers to cost increases in recent years and the goodwill of the companies involved.
There are already two monuments to Tuffi in Wuppertal. One of them is in the pedestrian zone. Another is roughly at the point where the elephant landed in the Wupper after falling from a height of around ten meters. The sculpture of the young elephant cow sitting in the river is located in the Barmen district between the central Alter Markt stop and the Adlerbrücke stop.
Tuffi was on the Wuppertal Suspension Railway on July 21, 1950 for advertising purposes for a circus. She suddenly broke through the outer wall of the cabin, jumped down and landed unharmed on her rear end in a mud hole. The elephant lived for many more years and became the main attraction in her circus.
