Iglica

Iglica. A forty-ton structure erected in 1948 on the occasion of the Regained Territories Exhibition. It was to show the efforts of the citizens of Wrocław to rebuild the city destroyed by World War II and Festung Breslau. Hence the three legs of the base, representing the united social classes – workers, peasants and the so-called working intelligentsia, in the struggle for the common national good.

Originally, at the very top of the building designed by Stanislaw Hempel, there was a mirror-like structure resembling a plume. However, the creative design, designed to reflect the floodlights around Iglica, turned out to be a dud. Just before the official presentation of the object, a huge storm passed over Wrocław, which did not spare the mirrored structure. The remains of the aluminium mirrors had to be dismantled. This difficult mission was undertaken by two students – Wojciech Niedziałek and Zbigniew Jaworowski, whose climb to the very top of Iglica and removal of the mirror elements took more than 24 hours.

Iglica, still with its plume, measured 106 metres. In the 1960s, the rusty peak was cut off and thus reduced to 96 metres. A decade later, during the next conservation, another 5 metres of Iglica were probably damaged and removed, which was found out during the renovation carried out in 2016, when the height of the object was re-measured. Today Iglica measures 90 metres and 30 centimetres in height.

Gallery

Exhibition of The Recovered Territories
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