For several years now, Munich has had a Freddie Mercury Street and a historic urinal with Mercury graffiti. Both the street and the urinal have a mixed reaction among the Queen fan community: the street is far from Freddie’s beloved Glockenbachviertel; the urinal (it is no longer in use as such, but is used for small art exhibitions) is conveniently located (on Holzplatz), but Freddie shares the attention with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Albert Einstein, two other residents who are visually similarly designed on the listed “Klohäusel” walls.
On Mercury’s 78th birthday on September 5th, the initiators of a special memorial gathered with around 400 guests in Reichenbachstrasse in front of Freddie’s regular bar, the Deutsche Eiche.
A plate portrait of the singer
Although a statue (similar to the one in Montreux) could not be realized, a special image was created instead: prominent contemporary witnesses and Queen fans attended the unveiling of a mosaic on the facade of the legendary gay meeting place.
Queen sound engineer and Mercury co-producer (“Mr. Bad Guy”) Reinhold Mack, together with economic advisor Clemens Baumgärtner, unveiled the white-grey-black shimmering platelet portrait of the singer, consisting of around 5,000 two-millimeter-sized stones.
from left: Herbert Hauke, Reinhold Mack, Dietmar Holzapfel and RS author Nicola Bardola
Mosaic artist Franco Notonica spent around a year focusing almost exclusively on Freddie Mercury and decided on a special hand position that only holds the microphone with the thumb and index finger. The appearance (short hair, moustache, muscular) dates back to Freddie’s years in Munich (1979 to 1985); the mosaic facial expressions of the rock legend can be found in numerous concert photos from that time.
“Munich is like a small village. I have many friends there”
The one-and-a-half-meter wide and 1.20-meter high work of art changes depending on the weather, time of day, incidence of light or location. The position, tone and shape of each individual stone determine the radiance and appearance of Mercury on the facade of the trendy hotel with its world-famous sauna.
Freddie Mercury’s passion for Munich is expressed in numerous conversations. In June 1985, he gave an interview to Radio One in London, in which he spoke in detail about the Bavarian capital: “I have found a place called Munich. I can walk the streets there. Munich is like a small village. I have a lot of friends there. They know who I am. But they treat me like an ordinary person. And they accept me that way. And that’s a good way for me to relax. I don’t want to relax and have to keep my mouth shut. (…) I like doing all these things, meeting people, partying, but without worrying about not being able to stay up too late because I have a meeting tomorrow, or an obligation or a show. I can completely detach myself from that and still be in the same city and relax.”
The Queen frontman couldn’t do that in London, New York or Tokyo. The mosaic is intended to remind Queen fans all over the world how important the Isar metropolis was for rock icon Mercury and his band.
