Aleksis Kivi Monument (Helsinki)
The Aleksis Kivi Monument is a memorial to the Finnish writer Aleksis Kivi in Helsinki , Finland .
location
It is located in Rautatientori Square in downtown Helsinki in front of the Finnish National Theater . A little further to the west is the Helsinki Central Station .
Design and history
It depicts Aleksis Kivi as a larger than life bronze sculpture sitting melancholy on a chair. In depicting Kivi, the sculptor Wäinö Aaltonen referred to a portrait of Kivi made by the painter AE Forsell. Below the chair are three reliefs, each referring to a literary work by Kivi ( Sydämeni laulu , Keinu and Seitsemän veljestä pakenee Impivaarasta ). On the back of the monument there are two stanzas from Ikävyy's poem . The sculpture rests on a stone base on the front of which the word ALEKSIS KIVI is attached.
The memorial was unveiled on October 10, 1939. Before that, a two-stage competition had taken place between 1928 and 1930. Carl Wilhelms won the first stage and Aukusti Veuro won the second . Nevertheless, in 1932 Aaltonen was finally commissioned with a plaster design, which was cast in bronze in 1934 and then completed in 1939.
The memorial is mentioned in Bertolt Brecht's refugee talks , which take place in the restaurant of the neighboring train station. The Kivi sculpture then looks as if he is dreaming of a piece of bread. Brecht had seen the memorial in April 1940.
Web links
- Aleksis Kivi In: vanderkrogt.net (English)
- Aleksis Kivi Memorial In: discoveringfinland.com (English)
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 60 ° 10 ′ 18 ″ N , 24 ° 56 ′ 38.1 ″ E