Jan Heweliusz Monument

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The Jan Hewelius Monument is the name given to two monuments in Gdańsk's old town that commemorate the astronomer and mayor of the old town Johannes Hevelius .

1973 memorial

The Jan Heweliusz memorial from 1973

The older of the two monuments was created in 1973 on the initiative of the “Neptune” association and financed by donations from citizens of Danzig. It is made of sandstone and the astrolabe is made of sheet copper. The monument was designed by Michał Gąsienica Szostak. It originally stood in front of the old town hall on Korzenna Street. In 2004, the monument was moved from its original location to the green space between the Hotel Mercure Gdańsk Stare Miasto (formerly Hotel Heweliusz ), ulica Heweliusza and ulica Wodopój.

Monument from 2006

As part of the celebration of the 395th birthday of Johannes Hevelius, a second monument to the astronomer was unveiled on January 28, 2006 in front of the Old Town Hall. It stands at the position where the 1973 memorial was until 2004. The monument was designed by the Gdańsk sculptor Jan Szczypka. The bronze sculpture shows a life-size seated figure of a scholar observing the sky. The sculpture was kept in the late baroque style. Three slabs were set into the surrounding pavement, explaining the monument in Polish, German and English. In 2009 the memorial was added to two walls of a neighboring building by applying a map of the starry sky from Hevelius' time in such a way that it is in the field of view of the memorial sculpture.

Web links

Commons : Memorial from 1973  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Monument from 2006  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Overview of Gdańsk Monuments on www.gdansk.pl , accessed on September 10, 2015.