The dwarfs of Wrocław are one of the attractions of the Polish city
Walk everywhere Wrocław (pronounced “vrotsouaf”) in Poland, asks mainly for observation. Exploring a new city often involves visiting the must-see sites, but in the capital of Lower Silesia, locals make it as much as tourists.
Over the past ten years, at least 280 gnomes ("Krasnale" in Polish) invaded the city of Wrocław and they are increasingly numerous each year . It all started when a statue of a dwarf was erected in honor of the Alternative Orange an anarchist underground movement, which was founded in 1981 here. The Alternative Orange organized events, painted absurd graffiti in the form of lutins on the walls of the cities and was one of the most picturesque elements of the Polish opposition against the communist regime of the People’s Republic of Poland.
This statue is the first statue installed in 2001, which launched the movement
Their campaign was a huge embarrassment for the party and once the communist regime fell, the freed city wanted to commemorate the movement. At first, there was only one an official statue , but it was quickly followed by several others, and dwarf statues began to bloom all over the streets of Wrocław. Different local companies even lined up to get theirs.
Since then, new dwarfs appear every month , and it is difficult to find a “registration” that identifies the precise location of each statue, so that you visit the city randomly without realizing it.
It’s funny and unusual to discover the city thanks to these gnomes. In general, each dwarf refers to where it is located (restaurant, place, store, museum, etc...). Here are some pictures of dwarfs that you can meet during a stay in Wrocław :
Consult this map to know the exact location of krasnale identified.
Photo sources : Alexander Johmann on Flickr, Pnapora sur Wikimedia, Klearchos Kapoutsis on Flickr
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