The statue of the founder of Č. Budějovic will stand in the park, the councilors have decided

Sculptor František Postl with a model of the statue of Přemysl Otakar II.

Ceske Budejovice - The statue of the founder of Ceske Budejovice, Přemysl Otakar II., will be located in the park Na Sadech. This was decided by the city council. Its unveiling on October 28 will be one of the highlights of the celebrations marking 750 years since the founding of the city. Jiří Svoboda (ANO), the mayor, said this today to ČTK. Just last week, it was unclear where it would stand. The life-sized work was accepted in 2013 as a gift from sculptor František Postl by the former city leadership. The artist is now creating it from a granite block in his studio.
    The gift from the local sculptor had previously sparked discussions regarding both the representation of the statue and the material it is to be carved from. The placement of the statue was controversial. The situation was supposed to be resolved by the so-called placement commission of the chief architect, which, however, ended its activities before the elections and found no suitable location for the statue.
    "The statue will stand in the park Na Sadech by Kněžská Street, at the opposite end of the oval, across from the bronze monument of industrialist Vojtěch Lanna," the mayor stated. "The statue is not yet finished, but we have a promise that it should be completed in the summer months," he added. After the council's verdict, the placement of the statue will also be commented on by conservationists and the environmental department. It will be investigated whether the necessary equipment for the installation of the work can access the site. It will be necessary to relocate the lighting and a utility pole and build substantial foundations.
    Postl's Iron and Golden King has a Gothic, slightly curved S-shaped silhouette. He is draped in a long wire shirt, and a massive cloak flows down to the ground over his shoulder. Beneath it lies the sword he leans on, while in his right hand he holds the founding charter of the city.
    The celebrations of the 750th anniversary of the founding of Ceske Budejovice began two weeks ago with a multimedia show that was watched by tens of thousands of people in the city center and on the internet. This was followed by the opening of an exhibition of the funeral insignia of the city's founder, Přemysl Otakar II., in the council gallery, which was viewed by 15,000 people.