Kugel ball

This article is about a sculpture. For other uses, see Kugel (disambiguation).

Kugel Ball in Railroad Plaza, Lansdale, Pennsylvania

Simplified diagram of the workings of a Kugel ball

A Kugel ball is a sculpture consisting of a large granite ball supported by a very thin film of water. Water flows beneath a very heavy, perfectly spherical rock from a spherical concave base with exactly the same curvature. A Kugel ball can weigh thousands of pounds, but because the thin film of water lubricates it, the ball spins.

Kugel ball installations can be found all over the world. Many are at popular tourist destinations, such as a science museum in the United States, a shopping center in England, a hotel lobby in Kuwait, and a botanical garden in Germany.

The term Kugel ball originates from the German word Kugel, which can mean ball, sphere or globe.

Locations of kugel balls

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Location	Country	GPS Coordinate
TriHealth Fitness & Health Pavilion, Cincinnati, Ohio	USA	39.255901°N 84.364927°W / 39.255901; -84.364927 (Cincinnati)
Reading Hospital	USA	Unknown
Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia	USA	37.560809°N 77.466157°W / 37.560809; -77.466157 (Richmond, Virginia)
Forrest Place Perth, Western Australia	Australia	31.952756°S 115.859182°E / -31.952756; 115.859182 (Perth)
Questacon Canberra, Australian Capital Territory	Australia	35.298158°S 149.131507°E / -35.298158; 149.131507 (Canberra)
SkyHigh Mount Dandenong, Victoria (Australia)	Australia	37.826974°S 145.3528°E / -37.826974; 145.3528 (SkyHigh Mount Dandenong)
Mississippi College, Clinton, Mississippi	USA	Unknown
Feldkirch	Austria	Unknown
Erlangen, Bavaria	Germany	49.595552°N 11.005286°E / 49.595552; 11.005286 (Erlangen)
University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado	USA	Unknown
29th Street Mall, Boulder, Colorado	USA	40.01715°N 105.25585°W / 40.01715; -105.25585 (Boulder)
Belmar Shopping Center, Lakewood, Colorado	USA	39.708726°N 105.077594°W / 39.708726; -105.077594 (Lakewood, Colorado)
Langenfeld	Germany	51.109795°N 6.948499°E / 51.109795; 6.948499 (Langenfeld)
Kansas City, Missouri	USA	39.06434°N 94.590298°W / 39.06434; -94.590298 (Kansas City, Missouri)
Railroad Plaza, Lansdale, Pennsylvania	USA	40.243083°N 75.285833°W / 40.243083; -75.285833 (Lansdale)
Amarillo, Texas	USA	35.207017°N 101.830733°W / 35.207017; -101.830733 (Amarillo)
Wellington	New Zealand	41.290556°S 174.781389°E / -41.290556; 174.781389 (Wellington)
Carsington Water Visitor Center, Derbyshire	UK	53.060217°N 1.641850°W / 53.060217; -1.641850 (Derbyshire)
Dallas, Texas	USA	32.786083°N 96.795739°W / 32.786083; -96.795739 (Dallas)
Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas,	USA	29.721933°N 95.390244°W / 29.721933; -95.390244 (Houston)
Railroad Community Park, Santa Paula, California,	USA	34.35597°N 119.0604°W / 34.35597; -119.0604 (Santa Paula, California)
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Cape Canaveral, Florida	USA	28.522486°N 80.681198°W / 28.522486; -80.681198 (Cape Canaveral)
Intersection of Lane Ave. and Olentangy River Rd., Columbus, Ohio	USA	40.007172°N 83.022688°W / 40.007172; -83.022688 (Columbus, Ohio)
The Mall at Tuttle Crossing, Columbus, Ohio	USA	Unknown
COSI Columbus, Columbus, Ohio	USA	Unknown
Holliday Park Nature Center, Indianapolis, Indiana	USA	Unknown
Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, California	USA	33.8118177°N 117.9170617°W / 33.8118177; -117.9170617 (Disneyland Resort)
California Baptist University, Riverside, California	USA	Unknown
Dundarave, West Vancouver, British Columbia	Canada	49.333258°N 123.182506°W / 49.333258; -123.182506 (West Vancouver)
Coleman-Morse Center, Notre Dame, Indiana	USA	41.700701°N 86.240622°W / 41.700701; -86.240622 (Notre Dame, Indiana)
Chinatown, Victoria, British Columbia	Canada	48.429117°N 123.366900°W / 48.429117; -123.366900 (Kugel ball at Chinatown)
Nike Campus, Beaverton, Oregon	USA	Unknown
Amtrak Station, Bakersfield, California	USA	35.372101°N 119.008233°W / 35.372101; -119.008233 (Bakersfield)
Children's playground, rue du Dôme, Boulogne-Billancourt, Île de France	France	Unknown
Paultons Park, Hampshire	England	50.94887°N -1.5523553°E / 50.94887; -1.5523553 (Hampshire)
Parco Commerciale Dora, Via Livorno, angolo Via Treviso, Turin	Italy	45.087556°N 7.668025°E / 45.087556; 7.668025 (Turin)
The Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, Gatlinburg, Tennessee	USA	35.711403°N 83.518453°W / 35.711403; -83.518453 (Gatlinburg, Tennessee)
The Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina	USA	Unknown
The Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, Niagara Falls, Ontario	Canada	43.0918716°N 79.0759849°W / 43.0918716; -79.0759849 (Niagara Falls)
Canyon Visitor Education Center, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	USA	44.734717°N 110.491888°W / 44.734717; -110.491888 (Yellowstone)
Rotuaari pedestrian street, Oulu	Finland	Unknown
Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,	USA	43.134167°N 87.955833°W / 43.134167; -87.955833 (Milwaukee)
San Diego Zoo Safari Park, San Diego, California	USA	33.09866°N 116.99889°W / 33.09866; -116.99889
Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, Nebraska	USA	41.225158°N 95.927939°W / 41.225158; -95.927939 (Omaha)
Duke Power, Charlotte, North Carolina	USA	Unknown
Oak Court Mall, Memphis, Tennessee	USA	35.117305°N 89.913378°W / 35.117305; -89.913378 (Memphis)
Kaggensgatan Pedestrian Street, Kalmar	Sweden	56.661616°N 16.364538°E / 56.661616; 16.364538 (Kalmar, Sweden)
Palmengarten, Frankfurt am Main	Germany	Unknown
Casino Velden, Velden	Austria	Unknown
Iowa State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, Iowa	USA	41.595546°N 93.551049°W / 41.595546; -93.551049 (Des Moines)
Davison Township Police Department, Davison, Michigan	USA	43.027255°N 83.555757°W / 43.027255; -83.555757 (Davison, Michigan)
Malaya Sadovaya Street, Saint Petersburg	Russia	59.93421°N 30.33744°E / 59.93421; 30.33744 (St. Petersburg)
Lausanne	Switzerland	Unknown
Hämeenpuisto, Tampere	Finland	61.497792°N 23.751926°E / 61.497792; 23.751926 (Tampere, Finland)
Lyngby Storcenter, Lyngby	Denmark	55.771329°N 12.505888°E / 55.771329; 12.505888 (Lyngby, Denmark)
Morton Arboretum, Illinois	USA	41.81393°N -88.06997°E / 41.81393; -88.06997 (Morton Arboretum)
Casa de las Ciencias, A Coruña	Spain	43.3618°N 8.413951°W / 43.3618; -8.413951 (A Coruña, Spain)
Louisville Zoo, Louisville, Kentucky	USA	38.205438°N 85.707023°W / 38.205438; -85.707023 (Louisville, Kentucky)
Somerset Collection, Troy, Michigan	USA	42°33′41″N 83°11′2″W
Pacific Science Center, Seattle, Washington	USA	47°37′9″N 122°21′4″W
Temaikèn Park, Belén de Escobar, Buenos Aires Province	Argentina	34.366725°S 58.804462°W / -34.366725; -58.804462 (Buenos Aires)
Utah's Hogle Zoo, Salt Lake City, UT	USA	Unknown
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA	USA	39.980071°S 75.156248°W / -39.980071; -75.156248 (Philadelphia)
Lobby of the Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait City	Kuwait	Unknown
Westpark, Munich	Germany	48.122954°N 11.531178°E / 48.122954; 11.531178 (Munich)
W5 Interactive Discovery Centre, Belfast	Northern Ireland	Unknown
ConocoPhillips Campus, Houston, Texas	USA	29.788273°N 95.613542°W / 29.788273; -95.613542 (Houston, Texas)
Techniquest, Cardiff	Wales	51.274644°N 3.10372°W / 51.274644; -3.10372 (Cardiff)
Gilbert, Arizona	USA	33.21293°N 111.47463°W / 33.21293; -111.47463 (Gilbert, Arizona)
Whatcom Community College, Bellingham, Washington	USA	48.79534°N 122.493681°W / 48.79534; -122.493681 (Bellingham, Washington)
Donbass Arena, Donetsk	Ukraine	48°01′15″N 37°48′34″E
"The Solar System", Tarnów	Poland	50.008344°N 20.975416°E / 50.008344; 20.975416 (Tarnów, Poland)
"Discovery", [1], Columbus Learning Center, 4601 Central Ave, Columbus, Indiana	USA	Unknown
Bengaluru International Airport Terminal, Bangalore	India	Unknown
Fry's Electronics, San Marcos, California	USA	33.13712°N 117.183952°W / 33.13712; -117.183952
Tulsa Zoo, Tulsa, OK	USA	Unknown

External links

• Terracache dedicated to the Kugel Ball.
• Waymarking list of large kugel balls, with GPS coordinates and images.