Sigismund's Column, Warsaw, Poland, ca 1950s
Dressed in armor with a sword in one hand and a cross in the other the statue of King Sigismund III Vasa stands atop a pillar in the photo on this unused postcard. Wanda Tomcyzkowska is credited with the picture and the color card was produced by Mike Roberts of Berkeley, California. The code, SC9945 is found at the lower left corner on the reverse.
The original column was erected around 1644 in Warsaw, Poland under the orders of Sigismund’s son, King Wladyslaw IV Vasa. In the beginning the column was 27 ft or 8.5 m high. Today the entire monument stands 22 meters high or 72 feet tall. The sculpture of the king alone stands 2.75 m or 9 ft tall. The column from 1644 was made of red marble and was renovated several times. A wooden fence surrounded the monument in 1681 and was later replaced with an iron fence. Then in 1854 a fountain was added. A new column of granite replaced the marble column between 1885 and 1887. Still later, around 1930, another renovation restored the monument to its original appearance and removed the fence and the fountain. During World War II the bronze statue was damaged and the column was demolished. After the war was over the statue was repaired and a new column made from granite was set up in 1949. There is also a plaque with an inscription fixed to the pedestal. The broken pieces of the original column can still be seen lying near the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
The automobiles in the picture on the card suggest a date in the 1950s, which would mean the picture was taken not long after the 1949 repair work to the statue and the column replacement.
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