Plzeň 70 years after the war unveiled a monument to General Patton

Plzeň - Plzeň has today, after years of preparation and debate, a memorial dedicated to American General George Patton. His units entered the city on May 6, 1945, and liberated it. Officials from Plzeň, Patton's grandson George Patton Waters, politicians, and representatives of the American embassy unveiled two slender 9.5-meter tall stelae made of special rusty steel with a cut profile of the general wearing a helmet on his head.
    "It is regrettable that for so many years there was no memorial in Plzeň to a man who steadfastly led soldiers on that arduous journey," said Mayor Martin Zrzavecký (ČSSD). "I apologize for taking so long to pay tribute to a symbol of bravery, courage, and freedom," he apologized to the veterans and Patton's family. "On behalf of the Patton family and the American soldiers, men and women, who passed through Plzeň in the final stages of the war, we express our truly heartfelt thanks to Plzeň," said Patton Waters.
    The memorial, designed by sculptor Lubomír Čermák with architects Tomáš Beneš and Václav Zůna, won the architectural competition in 2009. Patton Waters was a member of the jury. The subtly effective sculpture, consisting of two meter-wide metal stelae facing each other, is intended to resemble a triumphal arch. The silhouette in lifelike scale is depicted on both stelae. The rust on their seven-centimeter thick plates resembles the armor of tanks and also highlights that the memorial was created 70 years after the war. The delicacy of the rust when touched recalls a certain gentleness of character of the general compared to the hardness of his advance. The drawing in steel is sharp and forceful and refers to the traits of a tough and uncompromising soldier.
    Although the memorial evokes negative reactions from some people, Zrzavecký is pleased that Plzeň has a memorial in this form. "I am not in favor of creating realistic sculptures, as we know them from past years, when various giants were faithfully depicted down to the smallest details. The fact that the form of the memorial provokes discussion is good; every interesting work should lead to that," Zrzavecký told ČTK.
    The above-ground part of the monument weighs 10.5 tons, and the underground anchorage in a six-meter ten-ton pile is designed to ensure the stability of the monument even in the event that a truck would crash into it. The work, costing 2.5 million crowns, is illuminated at night.
    The Patton memorial has been discussed in Plzeň for more than ten years. In 2005, a monumental bronze statue was to be unveiled in Plzeň. The realistic monument of the general in lifelike size was created by sculptor Jaroslav Bocker. However, Plzeň rejected the work, partly because the sculptor was listed in the records of the communist State Security. The statue thus ended up in the nearby village of Dýšina, and American veterans, who travel to Plzeň for celebrations, do not forget to visit it every year. Another attempt at a memorial also failed in Plzeň - a large-scale design full of symbols was to stand near the Patton Museum. That was not built either, and the city called for another competition in 2009, in which it received 37 proposals.