This statue of the Three Fates by the southwestern corner of St Stephen's Green was presented to the city of Dublin in 1956 by West German president Roman Herzog in gratitude for Irish aid after WWII. The statue, by Josef Wackerle, depicts the Norse figures of Urd (past), Verdandi (present) and Skuld (future), 'spinning and measuring the thread of man's destiny' (to quote the plaque).