If you ever visit Düsseldorf, one thing you will surely notice are all of the cartwheelers throughout the city. Düsseldorf's Cartwheeler (Radschläger in German) is the oldest tradition of Düsseldorf and became one of their famous landmarks. The tradition was honored in 1954 by the erection of a fountain, called Cartwheeler's Fountain, in Düsseldorf's Burgplatz and today the symbol of the cartwheeler is found though-out the city in fountains, sculptures, maintenance hole covers, door knockers and on many souvenirs. The origin of the cartwheeler cannot be pinned down to a single historic event, but several stories have appeared around it and the tradition is kept alive with a cartwheeler competition held annually by boys and girls in June on the Königsallee.
Mario's favorite cartwheeler in Düsseldorf is the cartwheeler at his school, the International School of Düsseldorf, where their motto is "Learning to be a world citizen". The values of the School are written on a colorful cartwheeler in the school playground: Inquirer; Knowledgeable; Well-Balanced; Reflective; Caring; Principled; Open-Minded; Communicator; Risk-Taker and Thinker. Mario is learning and practicing these values and loves the cartwheeler so much that he was more than happy to goof around in front of the cartwheeler for mama to take his picture - even though I have this blog Mario tells me often "No more picture taking mama!"
