Park Presikhaaf - Arnhem

Anyone who enjoys Park Presikhaaf today probably does not know that there has always been a beautiful woodland park here in the English landscape style. But in 1950, the excavators and bulldozers came to transform it into a level plain. A log cabin, a children's colony house and a gazebo that stood there disappeared under the demolition hammer. Five farmhouses were replaced by one educational farm, and the white villa that stood there was damaged in a fire to such an extent that it too disappeared. The intimate atmosphere of the English garden is no longer recognisable as such.

Nevertheless, it is an atmospheric park, home to one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the country. Step out of the park to become acquainted with the indigenous plant and animal species that find their home here.

At the edge of the park, on IJssellaan, you will find a striking work of art. Spitting Leaders stands in the water near the Park Bridge. The artwork was purchased by the municipality of Arnhem in 2008 after the Sonsbeek exhibition Grandeur.

The water-spitting sculpture by Fernando Sanches Castillo (1970) consists of four heads that manage to keep themselves above water. Three recognisable faces of Stalin, Franco and Louis XIV. The fourth man is an almost anonymous apparition and causes speculation. The heads spew ephemeral words of water. It is an ironic performance that allows one to laugh about seriousness and politics.