In Budějovice, they do not know what to do with the statue of the city founder

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

České Budějovice - The highlight of the celebration of the 750th anniversary of the founding of České Budějovice is set to be the unveiling of a statue of the city's founder, Přemysl Otakar II, on October 28. However, experts have yet to agree on the location where it should stand. The life-sized work was accepted by the former city leadership in 2013 as a gift from sculptor František Postl. He is now creating it from a granite block in his studio. "We are looking for a place for the statue," said Mayor Jiří Svoboda (ANO) to ČTK today without further comment.
    The gift from the young local sculptor has previously sparked discussions about both the portrayal of the statue and the material from which it is to be carved. Some artists felt a competition should have been announced. The battle was precisely over the statue's placement. The so-called placement committee of the chief architect was supposed to resolve the situation, but it ended its activities before the elections.
    "We have not been able to agree on any location because we do not know how the statue will actually look or how it will affect the given environment," said Hynek Látal, a committee member, art historian, and current councilor, to ČTK today. Only a 1:1 plaster model and a granite block were available. Moreover, the committee members were not convinced of the artistic quality of the statue, so they ultimately did not reach any conclusion.
    The Piaristické náměstí, which was considered, cannot host the statue according to experts due to the inconsistency of materials. A far more suitable location seemed to be in the park Na Sadech near Kněžská street. The city's founder would stand at the opposite end of the oval from the bronze monument of the prominent industrialist Vojtěch Lanna.
    Postl's Iron and Golden King has a Gothic, slightly curved S-shaped silhouette. It is draped in a long wire shirt, and a massive cloak flows down to the ground over his shoulder. Beneath it lies a sword, which he leans on, while in his right hand he holds the founding document of the city.
    The celebrations of the 750 years since the founding of České Budějovice began last week with a multimedia show watched by tens of thousands of people in the city center and online. "It cost two million korunas, the city hall contributed 600,000 korunas, and the rest was paid by sponsors," said the mayor to journalists today. Subsequently, according to him, 10,000 people viewed the exhibition of the funeral insignia of the city's founder, Přemysl Otakar II, in the town hall gallery within a week.