Water and Art as Unifying Elements

30 June 2026

Under the theme ‘The power of water’, the ‘HANSEartWORKS 2026’ art exhibition is running until August to mark the 46th International Hanseatic Day in Stargard (Poland). This year, a collage by Paderborn-based artist Wolfgang Brenner was also awarded a prize and exhibited at Stargard’s municipal library. His work was supported and sponsored by the municipal project team ‘City. People. River. – The Pader for Europe’ (EKS). “Water and art have linked European Hanseatic cities for more than six centuries. Thanks to Wolfgang Brenner’s award-winning work, the theme of the 21st HANSEartWORKS is now once again coming to the public’s attention in both Stargard and Paderborn,” emphasises Dr Michael Ströhmer, EKS programme director.

From a historical perspective, too, there are interesting parallels between Paderborn and Stargard: Both Hanseatic cities had their own ‘water gate’ for the city river as part of their medieval fortifications. In Paderborn, this was a three-arched passageway through the city wall, secured with iron grilles; in Stargard, there was the so-called ‘Mühlentor’ (Mill Gate), through which a tributary of the Ihna flowed.

Behind both gates stood mills powered by the water from the town’s rivers. “The Stargard Mill Gate, with its twin towers, was regarded then, as it is now, as the landmark of the Polish Hanseatic city, which is why many schoolchildren painted it for visitors to the 46th Hanseatic Day as a symbol of their city’s identity,” the programme director continues. Furthermore, from an architectural-historical perspective, the brick structure of the Stargard Mill/Water Gate is virtually unique in the whole of Poland.

Image information:

1: Paderborn-based artist Wolfgang Brenner (left) with EKS programme director Dr Michael Ströhmer in front of his award-winning painting at the ‘HANSEartWORKS 2026’ art exhibition.

2: Drawings by children in Years 4–8 featuring the Mühlentor gate to mark the 41st International Hanseatic Day, exhibited in the Gothic St Mary’s Church

3: View of Paderborn from the north-west showing the ‘Wassertor’ (water gate) on the River Pader, drawing by J. C. Schlaun, 1719

4: Stargard Mill Gate as the water gate on the River Ihna, by E. Sanne, 1843