Woodrow Wilson Monument (Prague)

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Woodrow Wilson Memorial opposite the Central Station (2015).

The Woodrow Wilson Monument (Czech Pomník Woodrowa Wilsona ) in Prague is in the Vrchlický Garden (Czech Vrchlického sady ) opposite the main train station . It is a replica of the Wilson monument from 1928, which the German occupiers destroyed in 1941. The replica was made in the Michal Blažek sculptor's studio and was ceremoniously unveiled on October 5th, 2011.

The memorial is dedicated to the American President Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921), who made a significant contribution to the post-war order in Europe and supported the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak state in 1918. It symbolizes the friendly bond between the citizens of the United States and the Czech Republic .

The first memorial (1928)

After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1918, a number of independent European nation- states emerged , including Czechoslovakia. The then President of the United States of America, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, played a key role in the establishment of the new republic . He supported the diplomatic efforts of the future Czechoslovak President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and recognized Masaryk's government in exile . Woodrow Wilson was highly valued for this in Czechoslovakia. After the First World War, Prague's main train station was named Wilson-Bahnhof ( Wilsonovo nádraží in Czech ) and the larger-than-life bronze statue of the American president was placed directly in front of the main entrance .

The statue was a gift from Americans of Czech and Slovak origin and was ceremoniously unveiled on July 4, 1928 as part of the celebrations marking the tenth anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia. The creator of the sculpture was the Czech-American sculptor Albín Polášek. At the unveiling, which took place in the presence of the Czechoslovak President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk , Albert Einstein, as envoy of the United States, gave the ceremonial address in which “the monument is an appropriate tribute to the memory of the President of the United States Wilson, whose name will forever be included remain connected to the independence of the Czechoslovak Republic ”, said.

Shortly after Germany declared war on the United States in December 1941, Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich ordered the statue to be destroyed. The demolition took place on the evening of December 12, 1941; A plaque was erected with the inscription: "Here was the Wilson monument, which was removed by order of the Deputy Reich Protector SS-Obergruppenführer Heydrich."

The German authorities renamed the Wilson train station back to the main train station. After the Second World War it was called Wilson-Bahnhof again, but only until it was renamed again in 1953.

The new monument (2011)

Detail: Wilson statue (2012)

The new memorial was created on the initiative of the American non-profit organization American Friends of the Czech Republic (AFoCR). In 2008 she launched a tender for the restoration of the monument and also took care of the financing. The competition was won by a team of sculptors Michal Blažek, Václav Frýdecký and Daniel Talavera. Mikuláš Hulec was commissioned with the architectural design.

The new monument is almost identical to the original version from 1928. Michal Blažek's team was able to rely on archived photographs, descriptions of work processes and other details, and the head of the original sculpture was preserved in the lapidarium of the National Museum.

The work on the statue was overshadowed by the quarrel between the sculptors Michal Blažek and Oldřich Hejtmánek. Hejtmánek, who had lost the tender, protested the jury's decision and refused to provide the winning team with a cast of the original head made in advance. Michal Blažek therefore had to make his own cast. When setting up a model at the future location, there were insults and fights between the two sculptors.

The new memorial was ceremoniously unveiled on October 5, 2011. The most prominent guests included President Václav Klaus , his predecessor Václav Havel , the former American Foreign Minister Madeleine Albright , who was born in Prague, and the American Ambassador Norman Eisen. The monument unveiling was the highlight of Wilson Week, during which a number of cultural events and exhibitions took place.

A new location has been found for the replica near the train station, because the old one is home to the new concourse built in the 1970s.

description

The 3.5 meter high bronze statue of the president stands on a high pedestal, the face is turned towards the station building. Wilson spreads his arms. This gesture is based on his appearance at the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 , when the President got up from his chair and symbolically blessed the new peoples of Europe with outstretched arms.

The inscription "WOODROW WILSON" is on the base. Four steps lead to the base. The front edge of the penultimate step bears the inscription "SVĚT MUSÍ BÝT ZABEZPEČEN PRO DEMOKRACII" (in German, "THE WORLD MUST BE MADE SECURE FOR DEMOCRACY"), on the upper edge of the last step is the same sentence in English "THE WORLD MUST BE MADE SAFE FOR DEMOCRACY ”. The so-called "Path of Freedom" is also part of the monument. It consists of brick-colored panels with the names of people who financially supported the project and leads symmetrically from right and left through the lawn to the memorial.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Patricia Sullivan: Prague honors Woodrow Wilson. The Washington Post , October 4, 2011, accessed October 29, 2021 .
  2. ^ The Wilson monument in Prague. In:  Neues Wiener Journal , July 5, 1928, p. 9 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nwj
  3. ↑ A Wilson monument in Prague. In:  Arbeiter-Zeitung , July 5, 1928, p. 2 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / aze
  4. ↑ a b Socha prezidenta Wilsona je zpět před nádražím. Česká televize , October 5, 2011, accessed on October 29, 2021 (Czech). German: The statue of President Wilson is back in front of the train station.
  5. ↑ Wilson monument in Prague demolished. In:  Neues Wiener Tagblatt. Democratic organ / Neues Wiener Abendblatt. Evening edition of the (") Neue Wiener Tagblatt (") / Neues Wiener Tagblatt. Evening edition of the Neue Wiener Tagblatt / Wiener Mittagsausgabe with Sportblatt / 6 o'clock evening paper / Neues Wiener Tagblatt. Neue Freie Presse - Neues Wiener Journal / Neues Wiener Tagblatt , December 14, 1941, p. 2 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nwg
  6. ↑ Wilson monument in Prague has disappeared. In:  Das kleine Volksblatt , December 19, 1941, p. 4 (online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / dkv(The board with the text can be seen in the picture.)
  7. ↑ Hlavní nádraží vzniklo jako konečná trati od Vídně , in: TV station Česká televize ČT24, December 14, 2011, online at: ct24.ceskatelevize.cz / ...
  8. ↑ Hlavní nádraží (Vinohrady) , keyword in the Encyclopedia Encyklopedie Prahy 2 , online at: encyklopedie.praha2.cz / ...
  9. ↑ a b c Do Vrchlického sadů se po 70 letech vrátila Wilsonova socha. Česká televize, September 8, 2011, accessed October 29, 2021 (Czech). German: Wilson statue returned to the Vrchlický garden after 70 years.
  10. ↑ a b Till Janzer: New Wilson statue inaugurated in front of Prague Central Station. Radio Prague International , October 6, 2011, accessed October 29, 2021 .
  11. ↑ Pomník Woodrowa Wilsona . Catalog of public art in the capital of Prague, accessed October 29, 2021 (in Czech).

Web links

Commons : Woodrow Wilson Memorial  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ′ 2 "  N , 14 ° 25 ′ 59.3"  E