Waldmops of Brandenburg in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany
In Brandenburg an der Havel, more than 20 small bronze pugs are scattered across sidewalks, stairways, and parks. These “forest pugs” were inspired by a 1972 television sketch by German comedian Loriot, who was born here and remains one of the city’s most celebrated figures. Originally installed for the 2015 Federal Garden Show, the statues proved so popular that the project grew, turning the city into a kind of open-air pug preserve. Each sculpture, sniffing, sitting, or even “marking its territory”, captures the whimsical spirit of Loriot’s joke that life without a pug might be possible, “but pointless.”
