Monumental Distortions – The Mickiewicz Column in Lviv (Part Two)

Polish sculptor Antoni Popeil designed what many now call the best Mickiewicz monument in Europe. Popeil’s vision called for a column 21 meters in height, surmounted not by Poland’s greatest poet, but by a flaming torch symbolizing the idea of inspiration. Further down the column stood a 3 meter tall sculpture of Mickiewicz being given a lyre (a metaphorical reference used to show a poet’s skill) by a winged angel, the genius of poetry.  The column would be constructed with Italian granite from Milan, the foundations would be granite and the figures cast from bronze. Popeil had been educated in the Fine Arts in Lviv, Vienna and Florence. He was a highly accomplished artist whose creative talent was nearing its peak.

The winged genius of poetry brings Mickiewicz a lyre on the column – Design by Antoni Popeil

Of Ceremonies & Wars – The First Four Decades of Mickeiwicz In Lwow
The design may have been done, but the monument was far from completion. Funds would have to be raised in order to pay for the column. Among the fundraising activities that occurred were theatrical and musical performances, the latter featuring works from famous Polish composers. Jubilee chocolates, stationary and commemorative postcards were all sold to cover construction costs. The city and local population chipped in with important monetary contributions. At this time, 49% of Lwow’s population was Polish and an even greater percentage were Polish speakers since much of the city’s large Jewish population spoke the language. Lwow’s aristocratic and middle classes rallied around the building of the monument. The Mickiewicz column was in essence a Polish monument.

The monument was finally unveiled at a grand ceremony on October 30, 1904. Thousands were in attendance at the event. The city set aside 20,000 crowns for expenditures. Visitors came from as far away as the cities of Krakow, Stanislaw (Ivano-Frankivsk) and Chernivtsi.  None other than Mickiewicz’s oldest son, Wladyslaw was in attendance. The festivities lasted two days with a wide range of events. The ceremony was a signal success. The column was now well on its way to becoming one of the most memorable landmarks in the city. The monument somehow still occupies the same place today as it did in 1904, despite the fact that it was witness to no less than four wars, two of which were among the most violent in human history.

Mickiewicz Column in Mariyska Square, Lwow – early 20th century postcard

The Monument Endures, The Polish People Do Not – Creating Lviv
In a bizarre twist, the square in which the column stands was given Mickiewicz’s (Mitskevycha in Ukrainian) name by perhaps the most anti-nationalist regime of the 20^th century. After the militantly atheist Soviets occupied the city in the latter part of 1939, they took down the St. Mary sculpture which had adorned a fountain near the Mickiewicz column. They then renamed the square for the great Polish poet. This was done despite the fact that all the while they were carrying out a murderous persecution of Polish intellectuals and crushing nationalist resistance. The renaming stuck. What vanished instead were the Poles of Lwow.

As late as 1944, a majority of the city’s population was ethnically Polish. In the aftermath of World War II somewhere between 100,000 to 140,000 Poles were forcibly relocated to what had once been Eastern Germany, but was now Western Poland. Demographic statistics give a bleak summary of the changes that were undertaken in Lwow. The proportion of Poles in the city dropped from 63% in 1944 to 10% in 1950 to 4% in 1959. Poles did the same thing to Ukrainians in what is today southeastern Poland, but they attempted to resettle and assimilate them (i.e. make them Poles) in the northern and western parts of Poland. Today ethnic Poles are less than 1% of Lviv’s population, but they certainly make up the greatest number of tourists visiting what was once known to them as Lwow. The Polish language can be commonly heard on a summer’s day in the center of Lviv. A city largely defined by Polish culture for several centuries, now only has Polish visitors, monuments and architecture to show for their once outsized presence.

The Mitskevycha Column still stands today in Lviv (Credit: Jan Mehlich)

Nationalism In Another Nation
The defining symbol of Polish national feeling still stands with the Mitskevycha column at Mitskevycha Square. If the column has made it this long it is most likely to stay. Anti-Polish feeling in western Ukraine has waned, especially in the face of a growing Russian threat in Eastern Ukraine. The Poles have been strong supporters of Ukrainian sovereignty and independence. Old historical wounds from the World War II era have slowly begun to heal. Mickiewicz is still a symbol of Polish nationalism, but with modern Poland’s increasingly friendly relations with Ukraine, there is no longer a feeling that the monument is an imposition. Now it feels more like a tradition, one that surges through the past and into the present of this beautiful city. Nevertheless, Poles and Ukrainians look up to the column today with very different feelings. To Ukrainians, Mickiewicz and Lwow are a thing of the past. To Poles, Mickiewicz and Lwow continue to be part of who they are.

Click here to read A Monumental Proposal – The Mickiewicz Column In Lviv (Part One)

A Monumental Proposal – The Mickiewicz Column in Lviv (Part One)

For a man who never visited Lviv or as he would have called it, Lwow, Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz sure has a lot of staying power in the city. Mickiewicz is revered as Poland’s greatest bard, a man whose name is synonymous with Polish romantic nationalism. Among his many literary accomplishments, he composed its epic national poem, Pan Tadeusz. His words and deeds have been revered by patriotic Poles ever since the mid-19^th century. Because of Mickiewicz’s well-deserved reputation it is quite strange that one of the finest monuments ever constructed to honor him still stands today in Lviv. Placed close to the city center, visible to tens of thousands of Ukrainians that pass by the area on a daily basis, the Mickiewicz column as it is known soars above the urban masses. Even stranger is the fact that Lviv’s Mickiewicz column survived Soviet, Nazi and another Soviet occupation of the city. The fact that it still stands today in a city that now has only a smattering of Poles is nothing short of improbable. To discover Mickiewicz at the heart of what has been called “the most Ukrainian city in the Ukraine” is a strange and fascinating find.

Mickiewicz Square in Lviv – a view from above

Partitioned From The Partitions – The Exile Of Adam Mickiewicz
During the late 19^th and early 20^th century nationalism was rising all across the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As the Habsburgs tried to keep their empire from splintering into many disparate constituent nations they allowed certain ethnic groups to celebrate their own languages, customs and heroes. Ethnic Poles in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (present day southeastern Poland and western Ukraine) were allowed self-government. This freedom helped lead to a Polish national revival. Poles controlled the provincial administration in Galicia and were virtually autonomous. They also had the weight of numbers on their side. They made up a majority of Galicia’s inhabitants. In Eastern Galicia the story was different. Poles were the majority only in the city of Lwow (the city was officially known at this time by its German name of Lemberg), Ruthenians (same as Ukrainians) were a large majority of the rural population.

Polish dominance of the growing city of Lwow was good enough though, since it was the home of social, economic and political power in the region. Because of this, it is little surprise that the Poles decided to raise monuments in honor of an exalted national hero in the city. The year 1898 was slated to be a special one for Poles memorializing Adam Mickiewicz. It was the one hundredth anniversary of his birth to a family of impoverished gentry in what is today Lithuania. At that time, the region had just become part of Russian ruled Poland. Mickiewicz would spend his entire life fighting for a reconstituted Poland. This led to a literary life lived largely in exile, first in Russia, then France, Switzerland and back to France. Eventually he would die far from his beloved Poland while in Constantinople.

The childhood home of Adam Mickiewicz in Navahrdudak, Belarus (Credit: Krochmal-commonswiki)

Casting A Memory – An Idea Ahead Of Its Time 
One place Mickiewicz did not live was Galicia. The only time he made a trip into Ukraine was on his way to Crimea during his exile in Russia. Nevertheless, Poles in Galicia had their imaginations captured by his patriotic verse.  They may have been split from their fellow Poles by the partitions, but Mickiewicz’s words united them.  Following his death in 1855, Mickiewicz’s fame continued to grow. Austrian Galicia was home to millions of Poles who revered his life and work. It was also the one region where Poles were given a generous amount of freedom to express their culture. Lwow became the epicenter of a surge in Polish nationalism.

The first proposal for creating a monument to his memory in Lwow was in 1856, a year after Mickiewicz’s death. It would be almost a half-century before the idea finally came to fruition.  Just over four decades later a committee was formed in Lwow to oversee the design of a monument to honor Mickiewicz. To show just how revered a figure the poet was, the committee decided that the winning design would be placed on Mariyska Square (St. Mary’s Square) in the city center. A sculpture of St. Mary, known as the “Mother of God”, that already inhabited the site would be moved to another area of the square to make room for a Mickiewicz monument.

Adam Mickiewicz in his later years

Building Up To Greatness
The committee soon announced “a competition for a monument project. The main motif of the monument should be a column in honor of the poet and built on Mariyska Square of our city. The monument must be no less than twenty meters in overall height, and must be made from material that can withstand all changes of our climate – either red or grey granite, whichever the Committee supplies to the artist. In the end, the cost of the monument should not exceed 60,000 golden rynskych, including the material which the Committee will supply. Models or drawings, made to an overall scale of 1:3, should be sent by September 15 of this year. The first prize is 1000 crowns, and the second is 500 crowns.” The winner did not disappoint.

Coming soon – Monumental Distortions: The Mickiewicz Column In Lviv (Part Two)

Mickiewicz Square as it looked in Lwow prior to 1904