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Fritz Koenig (; 20 June 1924 – 22 February 2017) was a German sculptor, considered one of the most important international German sculpture of the 20th century.
Koenig's main work and most famous work is The Sphere. The world's largest bronze sculpture of modern times once stood on the plaza beneath the two World Trade Center towers in Lower Manhattan until the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. The artifact, weighing more than 20 tons, was the only remaining work of art to be recovered largely intact from the ruins of the collapsed twin towers after the attacks. With its damage deliberately left unrepaired, the sculpture now stands in Manhattan's Liberty Park as a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks.
Koenig's oeuvre includes other works, including other memorials. Numerous works by Koenig and his renowned collections with artifacts from antiquity to the 20th century are located in the Koenigmuseum in Landshut, which he designed and established by the Fritz and Maria Koenig Foundation.
In the years after World War II, he studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich starting in 1946 and graduating in 1952. In 1951 he studied in Paris on a scholarship. In 1957, Koenig was selected to receive a scholarship from the Villa Massimo in Rome. In 1958, Koenig presented at the XXIX. Biennale in Venice and designed the West German pavilion at the world exhibition Expo 58 in Brussels with his art. In 1959, Koenig was able to exhibit at the II. documenta in Kassel. In addition, the Günther Franke gallery in Munich presented Koenig's first solo exhibition. Also in the same year, 1959, Koenig married his wife Maria, who was born in Landshut (1921-2010). In 1960, Koenig and his wife bought an agricultural property in the Altdorf district of Ganslberg near Landshut. In 1961, a house, studio and stables were built according to his ideas. Rural life made it possible for the passionate rider and horse lover to set up his own thoroughbred Arabian breed, which achieved worldwide fame and was also of great importance for his artistic work.
Koenig achieved his final international breakthrough in 1961 with a solo exhibition at the Staempfli Gallery in New York. Exhibitions at documenta III and XXXII. Bienniale followed in 1964. In the same year he was appointed professor for sculptural design at the Technical University of Munich, where he participated in the training of architects until 1992. From 1967 to 1971, Koenig created his main work that led him to world fame: At the behest of the World Trade Center architect Minoru Yamasaki and on behalf of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Koenig created a fountain system with the bronze sculpture Große Kugelkaryatide N.Y. (later known as The Sphere) for the World Trade Center in New York City, which was still under construction.
Over the decades, Fritz Koenig created a diverse work that he was able to keep in representative casts in his spacious country estate in Ganslberg. In addition, the sculptor owned many works of art from a wide variety of cultures and periods from Ancient history to the 20th century, the quality and diversity of which testify to the lifelong passion for collecting. Koenig's collection focused on a world-renowned collection of African works of art.
Koenig was a board member of the (West) German Association of Artists from 1961 to 1972. Fritz Koenig was also the recipient of numerous awards, including the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Koenig died on 22 February 2017, at the age of 92 on his country estate in Ganslberg.
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| Große Kugelkaryatide N.Y. ( The Sphere) | Sk 416 | 1967/1971 | Bronze | 7,64 × 5,20 m | Liberty Park in New York City | |
| '' | Sk 988 | 1994/1995 | Granite (monolith) | 1,85 × 10 × 1,02 m | Olympiapark in Munich | |
| Das apokalyptische Weib und die Sieben Schlangen | Sk 268 | 1962/1963 | Bronzevergoldet | 5,80 m | Facade of Maria Regina Martyrum in Berlin | |
| Große Flora L | Sk 637 | 1977/1978 | Bronze | 2,00 × 2,00 m | Embassy of Germany, London | |
| Wall with writing for | Sk 281 | 1962/1963 | Bronze | 2,70 × 3,00 × 0,50 cm | Monument for soldiers in Rheinberg | |
| Sk 479 | 1971 | Bronze | 2,40 m | Residenz, Munich | ||
(Paolo und Francesca) | Sk 566 | 1973 | Bronze | 2,62 × 1,645 × 0,65 m | Neue Pinakothek, Munich | |
| n.n. | 1973/1982 | Bronze | n.n. | Klinikum in Munich-Bogenhausen | ||
| Sk 284 | 1962/1964 | Bronze | 2,00 × 1,90 × 1,50 m | Luisenstraße 33 in Munich | ||
| Sk 383 | 1966/1967 | Bronze | 4,70 m | Berliner Platz in Braunschweig | ||
| Sk 486 | 1970/1972 | Bronze | 7,50 m | in Hannover | ||
| Sk 1021 | 2000/2001 | Bronze | 3,13 × 1,90 × 1,79 m | Alte Pinakothek in Munich | ||
| Heiliger Martin und der Bettler | Sk 1058 | 2014 | Bronze | 0,66 m | Baptismal chapel of St. Martin in Landshut | |
| Hauptportal, Schöpfung | Sk 279 | 1962/1967 | Bronze | 5,50 × 3,50 m | Würzburg Cathedral | |
| Große Kugelkopfsäule IF | Sk 441 | 1971 | Bronze | 4,38 m | University Medical Center Freiburg | |
| Große Säulenkaryatide R | Sk 386 | 1966/1968 | Bronze | 9,00 m | ||
| Brunnenstein | Sk 968 | 1992 | Granite | 4,00 m | Campus Weihenstephan in Freising | |
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| Großer Janus | Sk 847 | 1984/1985 | Iron | 2,52 × 0,675 × 0,675 m | |
| Große Zwei XXV | Sk 790 | 1982/1983 | Bronze | 3,10 × 2,30 × 1,40 m | |
| Großer Trieb | Sk 970 | 1993/1999 | Granite (monolith) | 6,70 m | |
| Großes Bouquet III | Sk 391 | 1967/1994 | Bronze | 1,76 m | |
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