Sculptor In their austere design, Ernst Barlach's sculptures have an affinity to German expressionism, although their multi-layered meaning cannot be fully embraced by the same. While the expressionists tried to prove that the fine arts were capable of making statements on realms unknown and beyond the self, which until then had not been adequately expressed in artistic forms, Ernst Barlach mobilizes his entire sculptural repertoire to hint at that which is beyond the self and all things. Barlach's sculptures raise the fundamental question with regard to the limits of expression within artistic forms. They explore the borders of experience and their depiction, and this indeed is the source of their impact. From the titles of his individual works one can already deduce Barlach's fundamental interest in universal definitions of the world and of existence: "Mutter Erde" (Mother Earth), "Gemarterte Menschheit" (Tormented mankind), "Der Übergang" (The transition), "Der Zweifler" (The Skeptic), and "Der Rächer" (The Avenger). Here, concepts emerge that lead beyond the boundaries of existence to a higher dramatic state. From this perspective, the works of the sculptor are similar to the works of the dramatist Ernst Barlach: the lofty gesture, the struggle towards a new understanding of the world. Pathos also describes the language of the time, the early 20th century, namely a grand pathos aiming at the sublime. The existential state of man in the early modern age, his spiritual loneliness, his fundamental will for revival, his quest for a cosmic and spiritual orientation, all these find their authentic expression in Barlach's figures. The pathos of Wagner, Nietzsche, and George is a heroic pathos from above; Barlach's pathos, however, has its roots in the depths, in the inner and cosmic being. It is from there that he experiences the suffering, as well as the joy, of being human. If one observes a long row of Barlach's figures, one sees the figures that are freezing, huddled together, chained and sleeping, filled with panic fright, listening and following, going berserk, in ecstasy and drawing the sword, holy persons and beggars, girls and old women, readers and musicians, the multi-layered cognition makes an appearance: Ecce homo - look there, the human being.