Sculptures in the German Empire were mostly costly commissioned works or small-format reproduction art with a high degree of public visibility. This seems to contradict the dictum of autonomous art that prevailed in the 19th century. Furthermore, the art discourse was shaped by a controversy surrounding the iconography of modernity. In this context, Sarah Czirr examines the emerging tension between artistic appropriation and social reality, in which sculptures during the industrialization period become "working images," productive actors on various sides, without the laws of "artistic reality" ever being suspended.