The 4.25-inch high, symmetrical statuette, carved from an oolitic limestone, was found in 1908[1] during the building works of train tracks. Originally, it was tinted with red ochre. Of particular note are the detailed adornments, especially on head and breast, as well as the fact that the figure has no visible face and is thus lacking an individual identity. Its head is covered with circular horizontal bands, the heavy breasts with indentations. The knees are suggested, and the navel is created naturalistically. It never had feet, and in relation to the entire figure the arms are too thin and only rudimentarily depicted. It seems as if they disappear underneath the breasts. Parts of the body associated with fertility and childbearing have been emphasized: the triangle, the vulva and even the vagina opening are accurately carved from the limestone. It looks as if the depiction of femininity by means of the genital composition had a special importance to the creator of the Venus as well as the people from that time. The original purpose of the figurine will never be discovered. However, in research there are several interesting interpretative approaches, like that of Walpurga Antl-Weiser[2] who writes in an essay: Moritz Hoernes[3] interpreted the Venus figurines as „Erotica", that is, as female creations for men. The interpretation as fertility goddess was revised in research since according to Antl-Weiser it is questionable „to imagine that apparently elder and obese women were seen as fertility symbols"[4]. Ian Hodder[5] interpreted the creation of the figurines as a form of control over the wild and dangerous since women in labour were connoted in this way. Evelin Lot-Falck[6] compared the Venus to figures of Siberian people, who used them as ancestors or adjutant spirits. For others, the Venus represents a kind of fetish in form of „an ideally comprised female identity".[7]

(Translation: C. Wilhelm)