Weimar is a city associated with Germany’s greatest poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. On August 19, 1829, a meeting took place there between Goethe and Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz. The event is commemorated by a monument which now stands forgotten amid overgrown bushes. An outraged reader wrote to Gazeta Polska Codziennie about the situation. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute has pledged to intervene and will reach out to the Polish Embassy in Berlin, the Polish Institute, and the Ministry of Culture.
The Adam Mickiewicz monument in Weimar appears to be completely neglected. Due to ongoing renovations at a nearby castle for several years now, the national bard stands just a meter from a construction fence, surrounded by building debris. It is also overgrown with shrubs, making it difficult to access. “If this is how it’s supposed to look, then maybe the monument should be brought back to Poland,” said Mr. Jakub. The bust of the Polish poet was created to commemorate his meeting with the German poet on August 19, 1829.
We decided to bring the forgotten monument to the attention of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, an institution dedicated to promoting Polish culture around the world. Here’s what it writes about its namesake:
“Adam Mickiewicz was chosen as the patron of the institute, whose mission is to promote Polish culture abroad. A distinguished poet, visionary, and activist, in his Romantic works, he described and longed for the Republic that no longer existed on maps. His literary output influenced not only Polish society but also artists and thinkers across Europe. As our patron, he obliges the institute to view art as a constant journey through time, space, diverse cultures and ideas, with their highs and lows. Art shapes our identity and enables a deeper understanding of the world around us,”
reads the institute’s website.
Now, the Mickiewicz Institute has promised to intervene in the matter.
“The situation you described was previously unknown to us, as the Adam Mickiewicz Institute is not directly involved in matters concerning monuments, nor does it oversee such objects. Thanks to your message and the reader’s intervention, we can now take concrete steps: we will inform the closest Polish institutions in Germany, namely, the Polish Institute in Leipzig and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Berlin. At the same time, we will forward the information to the Department of Cultural Heritage Abroad at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The next step will be to determine who owns the monument in question and whether any actions have already been taken in this regard. These matters will be handled by the appropriate and competent institutions, to whom we will pass along your report,” stated Joanna Andruszko, Head of the Communications Department.
stated Joanna Andruszko, Head of the Communications Department.