statues – Notes from the Cape

Published April 5, 2020

The Dwarfs of Wroclaw

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Firstly a disclaimer: I fully realise that the word dwarf is not an appropriate word to use, however in Wroclaw it is widely used to describe these small statues that are scattered throughout the city, and they have strong links with Polish history during the cold war.

The Orange Alternative was an anti-communist movement in Poland that started in Wraclaw. When the state paint over anti-communist posters, the Orange Alternative would paint a small dwarf. It was a peaceful form of protest the spread throughout Poland.

In 2001 a dwarf statue was unveiled to commemorate the movement, and they started to spread from there. Every dwarf has a full back-story, they are located on some city maps, and you can even download a mobile app to read about and spot the over 350 dwarfs.

Here are just some of the dwarfs that we found in Wraclaw.

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Published April 20, 2019

The Lone Sailor

The Load Sailer waits outside the US Navy memorial Plaza in Washington DC. He has been waiting since he was erected in 1987, yet with central location and the number of people walking past he is seldom lonely.

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For more details: http://minnesotasubmarineleague.org/projects/lone-sailor-project/

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Published January 5, 2018

Monument to the musicians

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This monument remembers the street musicians of Warsaw. Small bands like this one were very popular before World War 2, and today are hardly to be heard. The monument is in the Praga area, across the river from Old Town. Besides the monument, there is not much to see in Praga (at least not that I could find). But it made for a nice loop in one of my Warsaw runs.

If you have a Polish cell phone, you can SMS to 7141 with the text KAPELA and the tune number (from 1 to 100), and the band will play the tune (the track list is on the drum).

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Published November 10, 2017

The statue of Archduke Charles

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The statue of Archduke Charles looks over the Heldenplatz (Hero’s Square), next to the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Built in 1860, it glorifies the Habsburg dynasty. Charles was the leader of the Austrian army, and in the early 1800s fought against Napoleon.

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Published November 5, 2016

Mother statue

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On one of my Aegina runs, I came across this interesting statue (and this is one of the great things about going running on holiday – you see all sorts of interesting things). I did some research after my run, and I realised that it is directly opposite the Kapralos Museum. Kapralos was a famous Greek artist, and the copper statue symbolizes the Greek mother, a woman who toils in devotion to her family.

You can find out more about Kapralos here.

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aegina mother statues

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Published September 20, 2016

Johann Strauss Statue in Stad Park

In my previous post, I showed the flower-clock in Stad Park in Vienna. If you walk a little beyond the clock you will see a wonderful statue of Johann Strauss (i.e. junnour) playing the violin. Imagine him playing the Blue Danube as you sit and listen to his music. The statue looks like it is made from solid gold, but it is gilded – a very thin layer of gold has been applied to the bronze statue. It lights up the whole park in the sun.

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