We unveiled the Swordsman after renovation!
Yesterday, on June 20th, at the University Square, after a two-and-a-half-month renovation, we unveiled the Fountain with the Swordsman! The Swordsman shines again in the sun, wielding a sword in his hand. After an almost two-year hiatus, water once again flows from the fountain’s spouts. May this symbol of Wrocław’s students and the University of Wrocław bring luck to the female and male students who are embarking on their exams today.
Yesterday’s event of unveiling the Fountain with the Swordsman, co-organized by the University of Wrocław, the City Hall of Wrocław, and the Road and City Maintenance Board, attracted the residents of Wrocław, and there was plenty to see! The team champions of Poland, Leszek Rajski and Maxime Tarasiewicz, engaged in a fencing duel. We also had the opportunity to witness young fencers from Primary School No. 85 in Wrocław. Of course, our Swordsman presided over all the duels, observing every hit from the pedestal’s height. During the event, the sword was also handed over to the authorities of the University of Wrocław – to the rector, professor Robert Olkiewicz, and the vice-rector, professor Patrycja Matusz. The Swordsman’s sword will be placed in the main building of the University so that every tourist, student, or resident visiting us will have the opportunity to see it, and perhaps even touch it. The Swordsman himself received a replica of the sword. In the second part of the event, the UniOrchestra, an orchestra of international students under the direction of Piotr Gospodarczyk, performed for the enthusiasts of the Fountain with the Swordsman gathered at the University Square! Students from Ukraine, Germany, Greece, Azerbaijan, and distant countries in Africa played and sang well-known compositions from their respective countries, as well as popular song covers. After the concert, eager residents of Wrocław had the opportunity to ascend the Mathematical Tower and admire the renovated Fountain with the Swordsman from the observation deck.
Who is the Swordsman?
The Swordsman has been a symbol of Wrocław’s students for 120 years, and he first made an appearance on the University Square in front of the main building of the University of Wrocław on November 26, 1904. The nude youth standing in harmonious contrapposto, holding a curved-blade sword in his right hand, cast in noble, patinated bronze, is positioned on a tall marble pedestal. Two nude women sitting beneath him support the fountain’s bowl with their arms, adorned with four masks from which water flows into a shallow, circular basin.
The creator of the Fountain is Hugo Lederer, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin and a former student of Wrocław-based sculptor Christian Behrens. There are many legends associated with our Wrocław Swordsman, the most popular being that the Swordsman is Jugo Lederer himself, who, upon arriving in Wrocław to study, was lured away by his older fellow students, intoxicated by a considerable amount of liquor – some claim it happened in Świdnicka Cellar, others believe it took place in one of the pubs that were located at the University Square at that time… To make matters worse, Hugo Lederer lost everything he had in a card game—a pouch of money, clothes. All he was left with was the sword—a symbol of masculinity and courage. However, some rational voices among the city residents, historians, and, most importantly, heritage conservators argue that Hugo Lederer posed with a paid model—a young, handsome, tall man. Regardless of which version of events one believes, one thing is certain—the sculpture was executed with great precision. As one of the conservators working on the fountain’s restoration told us during yesterday’s event, every muscle on the Swordsman’s hands was meticulously sculpted, even the tiniest veins are visible.
On the 100th anniversary of the installation of the fountain, a speech in its honor was delivered by the late dr Bogusław Bednarek, a renowned Wrocław literary historian and erudite: The university Swordsman is not yet as esteemed an artifact as the golden bull’s head from the Sumerian harp or the monolithic Sphinx from Egyptian Giza, or the chryselephantine statue of Zeus Olympios created by Phidias. But the Swordsman, though less noble than those mentioned antiquities, simply matters more to us because he is woven into the history of our Wrocław Alma Mater, forming a part of our world, enriching the realm of our experiences and emotions. Furthermore, he is a vital and expansive being. He withstood the chaos of war, created the beginnings of his own legend, and ultimately survived an entire century – Bednarek said. The sculpture of the Swordsman brings us closer to an era in which honor was valued and defended… (…) it serves as a kind of warning against gambling and youthful recklessness. I am unsure whether Lederer is genuinely assuming the role of a moralist or discreetly winking at us with a Persian eye – Bednarek continued. Professor Bednarek also addressed the recurring thefts of the Swordsman’s sword: “Simultaneously, the Swordsman fueled the activity of suspicious jesters and thieves who systematically stole his sword. It is undeniably evident that not everyone revolves around the realm of the intangible and refined erudition.” *
What procedures did the Swordsman undergo during the recent renovation?
During yesterday’s event, conservators who had worked on the restoration of the Swordsman for two and a half months were also present. There were as many as 46 cavities to be patched. For this, they used stones quarried near Salzburg, Austria. These stones come from the same deposits from which the marble (untersberger) was taken for the construction of the fountain over a century ago.
Mrs. Barbara Wiśniewska described the progress of the work: – The stone is absolutely crazy. It may appear pink, but when you look closely, it’s different every inch. It has yellow, green, and blue veins, large white crystals, tiny red and black. This great variety gave us quite a headache, but it was worth it – she admitted. The colors of the patches used to fill the gaps were individually selected to match the old stones. Surrounding each patch are epoxy resin joints (UV-resistant). – We also added Untersberger marble in the form of powder to the grout, which we grinded on-site – Barbara Wiśniewska mentioned. – To achieve these vibrant colors, we needed nine pigments. It was the ultramarine, a highly intense shade of blue, that allowed us to obtain the desired shade of pink – she revealed.
Sword thefts
– It is not the students who are responsible for the thefts of the Swordsman’s sword. Please remember that the main building of the University of Wrocław is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Wrocław, and every day there are plenty of tourists from all over Poland and the world on University Square. However, the students of the University of Wrocław do love taking pictures with the Swordsman, especially as a memento after defending their thesis – said vice-rector professor Patrycja Matusz.
Together with the city of Wrocław, we aim to address the recurring thefts of the Swordsman’s sword, which is why we came up with the idea of placing the Swordsman’s sword in the main building of the University as well! Visitors will be able to explore Aula Leopoldina, Oratorium Marianum, admire Wrocław from the viewpoint of the Mathematical Tower, and get up close to, and perhaps even touch, naked Swordsman’s sword! We will soon inform you about the exact location where the sword will be placed!
* “About a naked youth of over a hundred years old”, Kamila Jasińska, an article from the University of Wrocław’s website published on November 25, 2014.
text: Agata Mitek
photos: Paweł Piotrowski
Translated by Ilona Mutke (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
