Charles the Great right next to the Cathedral - in the Aachen equestrian stadium
Werner Melech is painting the obstacles for the FEI World Equestrian Games


"Careful the paint is not dry yet," says Werner Melech laughing. There is a relaxed atmosphere in the part of the Albert-Vahle Hall that the 65-year-old transformed into an atelier around five weeks ago. Melech is decorating some of the obstacles for the show-jumping, driving and eventing disciplines of the FEI World Equestrian Games Aachen 2006 (August 20th - September 3rd) with artistic motifs.

But in the meantime it is only a question of adding a few last details. A final stroke here and there on a stand, a sponge is put to use over there, to make the stones on the staircase of the City Hall look as rough as stones do. "Wiping the subsurface with a sponge adds structural texture," explains the artist from Roetgen. Since the staircase of the Aachen City Hall that is integrated into one of the show-jumping fences, is naturally made of wood. A panel of spruce wood that the carpenter delivered a few weeks ago. "The World Championships are in Aachen. So of course the most famous buildings and personalities are reflected in the obstacles," Melech explains the specifications laid down by the course designer, Frank Rothenberger. In the Albert-Vahle Hall, the Cathedral is stood right next to the staircase of the City Hall - just like in Aachen's city centre - a few metres further on several executions of the Emperor Charles the Great are looking on from beyond the wooden panels. Together with his colleague Nika Alyushin, Werner Melech has decorated 20 individual elements of six obstacles in total over the past weeks. One last big task remains: A replica of the octagon in the Aachen Cathedral on the WEG marathon course that the four-in-hand drivers have got to manoeuvre around (Friday, September 1st). "I hope the weather is on our side over the next few days," says Melech, who has equipped many a castle, church or swimming pool with murals or ceiling paintings over the past 50 years. Namely, if it rains he can't work on the marathon course, because the paint would run straight away.

The pieces of art are otherwise immune to the wind and weather. "I paint the pictures with acrylic paints and then I seal them with water-based varnish." At the moment the paint pots and innumerable brushes are piling up in the hall. Big, small, thick and thin: The right brush for every stroke to make sure that everything is perfect - even if the spectators on the grandstands in the stadium aren't able to recognise every tiny detail. "The overall impression is what counts. If you deliver shabby work, it will be noticed by the visitors," adds the 65-year-old artist. Or by the numerous TV cameras that will be broadcasting the competitions from the Aachen Soers in around 140 countries.

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