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World record

“The world’s tallest sandcastle”

(September 2017)

Using 3,500 tonnes of sand, our team of 19 international artists took 3.5 weeks to build this gigantic sandcastle.

Height according to official measurement by Guinness World Records®:

16.68 meters !

Certified on 1 September, 2017 in Duisburg

Over the eight weeks in the Landschaftpark, just under 400,000 visitors dropped in to marvel at the sandcastle. And, as a speaker said, they were not just from the local region:

“There was a positive wave of sandcastle tourism.”

Press and social media

The media resonance was every bit as gigantic as the world record breaking sandcastle itself. Even when the starting shot sounded in the form of the arrival of the first trucks laden with sand, all the local and regional TV, radio and print media were present. During the building phase, the event took on a medial life of its own. The announcement of the world record even interrupted radio broadcasting as “breaking news”. Reports of the success circled the globe and a photo of the “tallest sandcastle” even made it on to the LED screen on Times Square in New York.

Beyond price: the resonance on all social media channels. Even the German Embassy in the US tweeted our success.
#sandburg #sandcastle

The building site

It took our technical crew a good week and the use of heavy machinery to compact the sand in timber formwork:

 

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City marketing campaign in front of Ulm Minster – Sandcity Ulm

Sandcity Ulm: City marketing campaign in front of Ulm Minster

In September 2024, we used around 30 tonnes of sand to create a sand sculpture around 5 m long and 2.50 m high on the central Münsterplatz square in Ulm, showing the Ulm Minster with its famous, world’s tallest tower, as well as the Ulm Sparrow and the ‘Tailor of Ulm’. After 8 days of work, the work was completed.

During the construction phase, the numerous visitors were able to admire the work and ask questions on a specially constructed beach made of around 100 tonnes of sand. The highlight on the penultimate day was a sandcastle building competition for around 20 children from day-care centres and schools in and around Ulm.

The media also reacted positively to this event, just one of many examples of the press response here.

Other examples of successful city marketing events in our gallery.

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Sand sculptures on the Rhine dyke – Sandcity Neuwied

Sandcity Neuwied: Sand sculptures on the Rhine dyke

For the Day of Urban Development*, we created 5 sand sculptures on the Rhine embankment on behalf of the city marketing department.

Our 3 artists from Portugal, Ukraine and Germany used 50 tonnes of sand to create impressive works of art in just 12 days. All the motifs had a connection to Neuwied and depicted prominent buildings and personalities of the dyke town.

The largest of the 5 sand sculptures with a height of 5.5 metres shows the skyline of Neuwied from the perspective of a tourist visiting the city and capturing the architectural sights on camera. The collage of historical buildings is dominated by the Pegelturm and the Raiffeisen Bridge.

We also created replicas of the Schärjer monument and the Raiffeisen statue. The peacock, heraldic animal of the dyke town, was of course also included. The fifth sand sculpture shows the town’s logo, a relief of the castle and the crown above its portal.

Our sand sculpture exhibition was completed just in time for the town festival “From Market to Dyke” and was opened by Mayor Jan Einig with the so-called “Last Cut”.

(*The Day of Urban Development is a joint initiative of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building, the federal states, the Association of German Cities and the German Association of Towns and Municipalities).

The city marketing campaign also attracted a great deal of media interest. SWR, for example, reported on it:

https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/sandskulpturen-neuwieder-deichpromenade-100.html

And SAT1 showed a film on TV about “Elaborate sand sculptures on the Rhine dyke” (programme no longer available in the media library).

Other examples of successful city marketing events in our gallery.

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Gocher Sommer

Gocher Sommer

We contributed to the “Gocher Sommer” town festival with a 5.5 m long and 2.2 m high sand sculpture. Using 28 tons of sand, we sculpted a skyline showing the remaining historical buildings in the town. The water tower, the Maria Magdalena Church, the Fünf-Ringe-Haus, the Susmühle and the Steintor were all on display, which particularly delighted the local visitors.

„StattStrand“

With 45 tons of sand, we transformed the market square into a StattStrand, a 300 m² beach zone with sun loungers and parasols for chilling out. In perfect summer weather, the people of Goch had the perfect place to watch our artists at work and the kids had fun digging in the sand.

 

„Goch is looking for the sandcastle star“

Under the motto „Goch is looking for the sandcastle star“, children were invited to give free rein to their imagination by building their own sandcastle creations. In this „competition“ in the shadow of the professional sandcastle, all the children were winners, and the reward was not only a certificate, but also a delicious ice cream.

You can see further examples of how our sand sculptures can be successfully used in city marketing in our gallery in the “City marketing” section.

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Halle by the sea

Halle by the sea

Halle by the sea – under this motto we created an impressive sand sculpture on the market in Halle.

Ahrenshoop on the Fischland – Darß – Zingst peninsula has been a popular vacation and residential destination for artists from Halle for over 100 years. The Moritzburg Art Museum is showing their works in the “Halle by the Sea” exhibition, which was the reason for the sand sculpture campaign commissioned by the town’s marketing department.

The central motif of the sculpture is the Ahrenshoop lighthouse, which is surrounded by other motifs of the Baltic seaside resort. The back of the 5.5 m long and 2.2 m high sculpture shows the “Bunte Stube”: it has been a cultural meeting place for artists and art lovers for 100 years.

„Instead of beach“

Visitors to the market could almost feel like they were on the Baltic Sea. On an area of 150 square meters, a StattStrand (instead of beach) was piled up in the city and equipped with sunshades and deckchairs, from which there was a perfect view of the sculpture against the backdrop of the 5-tower city.

 

„Halle searches for the sandcastle star“

Finally, there was some special sand fun for the little ones. They were allowed to build their own castles right at the foot of the professional sandcastle and were awarded a certificate for their creations.

Further examples of how our sand sculptures can be successfully used in city marketing can be seen here.

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GroßARTiger Sand

GroßARTiger Sand – City marketing campaign in Heidenheim

Under the motto “GroßARTiger Sand”, we organised a sand sculpture festival in the middle of the city centre for the city of Heidenheim as part of the federal funding programme “Zukunftsfähige Innenstädte und Zentren”.

The main sculpture in the pedestrian zone of the main street shows the city skyline and the artistic lettering “Heidenheim”. Integrated here is a true-to-original bust of the Heidenheim resistance fighter Georg Elser. The town’s coat of arms is depicted on the reverse in the style of a medieval wall. We needed 28 tonnes of sand for this imposing sculpture with a length of 550 cm and a height of 220 cm.

A second sand sculpture in the city centre shows a composition of 6 well-known buildings in the city. It measured 400 x 400 x 250 (h) cm and also consisted of 28 tonnes of sand.

Finally, the third sand sculpture was created in the central shopping centre “Schloss Arkaden”. To mark the promotion of 1. FC Heidenheim to the 1st Bundesliga, we created portraits of three of the club’s favourite players. In order to comply with the specified point load, only 4.5 tonnes were installed on a substructure, resulting in a height of 180 cm.

„Instead of Beach“

The StattStrand provided the right summer feeling. On an area of 150 square metres, a summery ambience with a view of Hellenstein Castle was offered to all those staying at home and out-of-town guests, thus creating an incentive to spend more time in the city centre. Young and old alike could chill out in deckchairs, play in the sand and enjoy the summer in the city centre.

 

“Heidenheim is looking for the sandcastle star”

Under the motto “Heidenheim is looking for the sandcastle star”, children were invited to give free rein to their imagination by building their own sandcastle creations. All the children won something in this “competition” in the shadow of the professional sandcastle.

Further examples of how our sand sculptures can be used successfully in city marketing can be seen here.

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Sandcity Burgdorf with children’s sandcastle building competition

Sandcity Burgdorf

The first sand sculpture show in Burgdorf, Lower Saxony, has become a real crowd-puller. Despite adverse weather conditions, thousands of visitors came to the 7-day exhibition to witness the construction and final inspection. Around 100 tonnes of sand were used to create the „skyline“ with the most striking sights of the riverside town on a square in the centre. Four international artists spent around six days carving the 10 metre long and 2.5 metre high sculpture in front of the public.

Particularly well frequented: The 500 square metre Citybeach in front of the sculpture, which offered children the very best opportunities to dig around and invited adults to chill out on deckchairs. The catering facilities provided appropriate refreshments.

The main sponsors were also honoured with their logos on a special sand wall.

Sand-Wall mit den Logos der Hauptsponsoren

„Burgdorf is looking for the sandcastle star“

But the highlight came at the end: under the motto “Burgdorf-seeks-the-sandcastle-star”, more than 25 children gave free rein to their imagination in building their own sandcastle creations. All the children won something in this “competition” in the shadow of the professional sandcastle. The organiser, Stadtmarketing Burgdorf, did not let itself be outdone and awarded each participating child a prize in the form of shopping vouchers.

Further examples of how our sand sculptures can be used successfully in city marketing can be seen here.

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James Bond – No Time To Die

James Bond – No Time To Die

James Bond – No Time To Die

For the theatrical release of the latest 007 film, we created this gigantic sand sculpture in Weissenfels.

Our team of artists used 100 tons of sand to create a sandy likeness of Daniel Craig. Several meters high, the faithful replica looks down on visitors. He is surrounded by his predecessors: all previous Bond actors are portrayed in the sculpture. And there is more to discover: Other central film characters, a typical 007 car and other props that any fan will immediately recognize.

Already once we could exercise our license to carve James Bond: for the release of “Casino Royale”. About the creation of this sand sculpture you can see an impressive film here.

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Sand sculpture in Haltern – “Ruhr Ding: 2021”

Sand sculpture at the Silver Lake in Haltern: „Ruhr Ding: Klima 2021“

Our sand sculpture in Haltern for the event “Ruhr Ding 2021” is finished!

This year, the event series is dedicated to the topic of climate. For this, the artists Mariechen Danz & Kerstin Brätsch created their concept “Clouded in vain”. Transforming this design into a three-dimensional sand sculpture was an exciting task for our team of artists. Human organs and cell structures, fossils and dinosaurs are supposed to give an impression of the climate-induced changes. The two artists are also depicted in the foreground of the sculpture.

Directly on the shore of Silver Lake, the sand sculpture is exposed to the weather without protection. The resulting changes are thereby part of the concept to show the transience.

Creation of the sand sculpture

We filled 66 tons of fine sculpture sand into wooden casings and compacted it into a solid block of sand, using the same principle as the pyramids were built in ancient times.

Then we could remove the casings one by one and carve out the sculpture from top to bottom. “Carving” is what this process is called in the language of international sand artists. From trowels and chisels to brushes and straws, a wide variety of tools are used. After 11 days of artistic precision work, it was done: the sandcity team had completed the detailed sculpture with a height of 3.5 meters.

Information about the event

Ruhr Ding: Klima
An exhibition in public space in Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Recklinghausen and Haltern am See

8.5. – 27.6.2021

More information on the entire series of events and the artists on the page of Urbane Künste Ruhr. Here you will also find links to the venue and online ticket booking.

The “Monopol – Magazin für Kunst und Leben!” also dedicates an informative article to the event.

And on our page SandArt you can learn more about our art made of sand.

 

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Underwater world of sand at boot Düsseldorf

Underwater world of sand at boot Düsseldorf

We created an underwater world of sand at the boot Düsseldorf in 2020. For this purpose, 60 tons of finest sculpture sand were delivered to the Düsseldorf fairground.

In the first step, we filled the sand into wooden casings and compacted it into a solid block of sand using vibration rammers. As this was of course not done silently, we completed this part of our work the day before the fair began.

All further steps from the sand block to the finished sand sculpture could be followed live by the visitors during the nine-day run of the world’s largest water sports exhibition.

The photos show the development from the design to the finished sand sculpture with its numerous details.

Live Act at the boot Düsseldorf

As always, we removed the top boarding first, and the artists began to work out the sculpture here. First of all, the rough shapes were blocked out. Then we used increasingly finer tools to create the actual sculpture with all its details.

Already on the first day of the fair, our sandcity team had carved the logo of the “boot” from the sand true to the original, much admired by water sports fans.

After we finished this area, we gradually removed the other wooden moulds to create the next parts of the sand sculpture. So we worked as usual “from top to bottom” until we had transformed the whole area into a fascinating underwater world of sand. Every detail was commented and photographed with great enthusiasm. “The shark is the hammer,” the kids said. But also the helmet diver and the treasure chest guarded by an octopus were popular motifs and were found in numerous posts on all social media channels.

Interaction with the trade fair visitors

At the same time we held several workshops in building a sandcastle every day. Anique from our crew charmingly initiated big and small talents into the secrets of the professionals. With a lot of fun they then translated their knowledge into their own creations.

Box seats for the interested spectators were offered by the chill out area around the sand sculpture and the workshop area in the TravelWorld in Hall 13. From a deck chair in the themed dune landscape, the guests could relax from the stress of the trade fair and observe the progress.

Other examples of how our sand sculptures become an eye-catcher at every trade fair are shown here.

And you can find more on the subject of marine worlds in our gallery.

Also the trade fair boot Düsseldorf reports on its website about our sand sculpture “Underwater world of sand“.

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