Plzeň will unveil a monument to General Patton on May 1st

Plzeň - After years of debates, preparations, announced competitions, and project cancellations, Plzeň will unveil a memorial to General George Patton on May 1 as the start of the Freedom Festival. His units liberated the city in May 1945. Two slender 9.5-meter high steel pillars made of special rusted steel feature Patton's profile with a helmet on his head. They symbolize a victory arch and the armor of tanks, said one of the authors, Václav Zůna, to reporters today.
    At the same time as the memorial, which cost about 2.5 million crowns to create, people will also see the newly reconstructed terraces and the space under the historic building of the theater for the first time, said Mayor's Deputy Martin Baxa.
    The memorial is located in a place frequented by pedestrians and vehicles. As people approach it, its shape will change from an abstract richly shaped column to an almost ethereal gateway, and finally to the specific shapes of the silhouette, explained sculptor Lubomír Čermák. Patton's silhouette, in life size, is depicted on the two standing pillars that are one meter wide each. The rust on the nearly seven-centimeter thick plates recalls, according to Zůna, the armor of tanks and highlights the fact that the memorial was created 70 years after the war. "Moreover, this rust allows one to perceive a certain subtlety in the nature of General Patton compared to the hardness of his approach, which is the steel," described the architect. The drawing in steel is sharp and forceful, referencing the qualities of a tough and uncompromising soldier.
    The above-ground part of the memorial weighs 10.5 tons, and the underground anchoring is also oversized with a ten-ton pile that is six meters deep and 80 centimeters in diameter. According to the authors, the memorial had to be designed to withstand a situation where a truck could crash into it accidentally.
    Discussions about Patton's monument in the city have been serious for about 12 years. The first attempt failed due to the collaboration of the author of the monumental bronze statue of the general with the former State Security. From the tender, a large-scale design filled with symbols at the Patton Museum emerged. That was also not built. The city then chose a location under the theater and announced another competition in 2009, in which it received 37 proposals. The jury, which included Patton's grandson George Patton Waters, decided on the winner.