Flygarmonumentet, Bronze sculpture at Karlaplan, Stockholm, Sweden
Flygarmonumentet is a bronze sculpture at Karlaplan in Stockholm featuring an eagle with outstretched wings. The wings span approximately 7.5 meters, while the figure itself stands 1.85 meters tall on a granite and marble base.
The Swedish Aeronautical Society commissioned the monument in 1917 to honour pilots who died in the First World War. Carl Milles presented an eagle model in 1927, and the bronze, diabase and marble version was inaugurated by Prince Carl on 15 May 1931. It was removed for the Karlaplan metro station construction and re-erected in 1967.
The white marble inlays on the dark diabase pedestal show Icarus, S. A. Andrée's balloon Örnen and early warplanes. Two inscriptions accompany them. The reliefs were made in 1927–1931, when Milles finished the bronze eagle, the pedestal and its marble panels.
The monument sits near Karlaplan metro station, making it convenient to reach while exploring central Stockholm. The plaza provides ample space to view the sculpture from different angles and to get a full sense of its size.
The eagle's pedestal is made of polished diabase, with four white marble panels showing Icarus, S. A. Andrée's balloon Örnen and early warplanes. Milles also designed a medal, completed in 1932, depicting a floating nude male figure with raised arms and gaze upward.
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