The fifth sheet in the cycle describes the arrival of the weavers in front of the manufacturer’s house. The men throw cobble stones at the villa-like house, handed to them by a woman. Others attack the splendid garden gate with their axes.
Unlike in Hauptmann’s play »The Weavers« where the group of weavers are offstage, but can be heard shouting their demands, Kollwitz created a visual depiction of the violent uprising. Women and their frightened children are seen in the foreground actively taking part in the revolt.
The gate and the wall, however, appear as an insurmountable barrier in this scene and hints at the doomed attempt of the weavers to storm the house.
Käthe Kollwitz, Garden wall with gate, c 1896, pencil and pen, black ink on brown drawing cardboard, NT 135a