Hasenkamp makes Plensa's dream come true: Five monumental female heads dominate the festival summer in Salzburg

Cologne/Salzburg, 3 September 2025 – The 2025 Salzburg Festival Summer ended with a record attendance of over 270,000 guests. A special highlight was the temporary art installation Secret Garden – a project by the Foundation for Art and Culture in cooperation with Global Neighbours by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, which dominated the Residenzplatz in the heart of Salzburg's old town from July to the end of August. The project was financed by Walter Smerling's Foundation for Art and Culture.

The five monumental female heads, each up to twelve metres high and weighing between 30 and 40 tonnes, were assembled in Salzburg to form impressive sculptures. Each work consists of twelve layers stacked on top of each other, which were assembled on site with the utmost precision.

After months of advance planning, Hasenkamp transported the individual parts directly from Plensa's studio in Barcelona to Salzburg. A total of 16 truck trailers carried the sculpture segments to the city of Mozart, where a specialised Hasenkamp team from Cologne, Munich and Vienna took over the assembly.

Precision and teamwork

A good 20 art logistics experts were on site. The final assembly on Residenzplatz took seven days and presented the team with special challenges: unevenness in the historic paving had to be levelled out, static specifications for wind loads of up to 260 km/h had to be met, and the process had to be coordinated in a public space.

‘The sculptures are bolted together from the inside, like a giant modular system. This means working in enormous heat and in extremely confined spaces – a challenge that our team mastered with impressive professionalism,’ explains Stefan Velte, Head of Logistics Engineering Solutions at Hasenkamp.

Hans-Ewald Schneider, CEO of the Hasenkamp Group, adds:
"What makes this project particularly special for me is its European dimension. Specialists from Spain, Austria and Germany worked hand in hand here to make Jaume Plensa's vision a reality. This impressively demonstrates that logistical excellence is always a team effort – characterised by experience, precision and a passion for art."

The artistic dimension

Artist Jaume Plensa emphasises the universal message of his works:
‘The names Minna, Wilsis, Rose, Rui Rui and Soribel form the Secret Garden. Five portraits of women from different parts of the world, with closed eyes, in silent dialogue – they speak of the beauty that each of us carries within us. For me, it was a dream come true to bring these voices to life in the heart of Salzburg's old town.’

A symbol of art in public spaces

Walter Smerling, Chairman of the Foundation for Art and Culture, emphasises the significance of the project:
‘Secret Garden has amazed people – and made it clear that art can have a tremendous, even disruptive effect; it has a social and identity-forming function. The women's heads changed something, gave the city square a new dimension – they brought people together, even connected them. Interpretations, discussions, fascination – different perspectives, contrasting experiences – all of this enriches the impact of art; indeed, it is the humus on which a city's culture thrives – only this humus can produce new fruits, i.e. new ideas, new ways of thinking, new ways of acting.’

A summer full of art – with European spirit

With the dismantling at the end of August, an extraordinary chapter of the festival summer came to an end. However, the monumental heads remain as an impressive reminder of the connection between art, space and European cooperation.

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