Heerlen giant Lucius wants to grow
Author: Harry Lindelauf
Photography: Stichting Collegium Stadsreus Lucius en De wereld door onze ogen
He is 5.30 metres tall and wants to grow. It is his ambition, as city giant Lucius, to become the icon of (Roman) Heerlen. And in 2025 he wants to have achieved that, because then Heerlen will celebrate that it received the status of Landsfort 800 years ago.
That is the milestone at which the people behind city giant Lucius Metcius Ferenius are aiming. The city giant was designed and built in the 1970s by the late Hubert Bour. The artist was inspired by parades with city giants and combined that phenomenon with the story of the potter Lucius from Coriovallum, the Roman name for Heerlen.
At the Putgraaf, potters’ kilns were discovered in 1971. One of those kilns turned out to have exploded during firing, and in the remains lay a jug and shards of jugs. On them, potter Lucius Ferenius had scratched three sentences before firing. In translation: “Lucius made this jug for Amaka”, “Lucius dedicates this jug to the good god of Ferenio, his homeland”, “Lucius, called Metcius, made this jug in his workshop.” Heerlen had already honoured Lucius by naming the building complex on the find spot after him.
Interesting history
Almost 2,000 years later, Lucius also lives on as a city giant on a wheeled undercarriage that measures 4 by 4 metres at the base and is over 5 metres high. The foundation Collegium Stadsreus Lucius Heerlen took on the care of the giant after the death of Hubert Bour. Thanks to the help of the Thermenmuseum, the public can see Lucius several times a year. Then he joins parades of city giants or impresses during events. Lucius’s most recent appearance was during the Via Belgica marathon in May 2023. The aim is always the same: to promote Heerlen and to create interest in the city’s rich history.
New clothing
The board of the foundation is bursting with ambition. There are plenty of plans, and some have already been tackled. For instance, the giant has been dressed in new clothing. “That was necessary. In consultation with the experts of the Thermenmuseum we researched which new clothing is historically accurate. That became coarser woven fabric, and we also adjusted the colours,” explains chairman John Bour. The clothing of Lucius’s 25 attendants has also been renewed.
Lucius? Yes, I know him
This is part of the ambition to give Lucius a level of fame that matches his size: “We want more attention for Lucius, to step out more and bring him more to life so that people in Heerlen say: ‘Lucius? Yes, I know him.’ Ultimately, we want to achieve that Lucius becomes the icon of Heerlen.”
Amaka, the city giantess
Part of the plans is to reunite Lucius with his Amaka in the form of a city giantess standing next to Lucius. Money is needed for that. That is why, in addition to the financial support of the Thermenmuseum, the foundation’s board wants to set up a Circle of Friends to help contribute to the costs of the plans.
Before it comes to that — and the board is hoping for 2025, at the celebration of “Heerlen 850 Years Landsfort” — Lucius will still have to appear without a wife. On Saturday 30 September 2023 this will happen in Lanaken, and on 2 June 2024 Lucius will be in Maastricht during the five-yearly parade of some 60 giants.
More: www.stadsreuslucius.nl
