Syrenka Monument in Powiśle, Bronze monument at Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie Street in Śródmieście, Poland.
The Syrenka Monument consists of a 2.75 m bronze figure of the Warsaw Mermaid on a three-block sandstone pedestal inside a fountain basin, giving a total height of about 6 m. The mermaid holds a raised sword in her right hand and a round shield bearing a crowned eagle and the inscription "Warszawa" in her left; her hair is tied in a bun. It stands on the Vistula embankment at Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie near the Świętokrzyski Bridge.
The monument was proposed by mayor Stefan Starzyński, who lent sculptor Ludwika Nitschowa a hall at the Koszykowa 81 waterworks for the work. The bronze was cast in 1938 by the Łopieński Brothers, and the statue was installed in April 1939 without a ceremony. In 1949 the same workshop filled 35 bullet holes, and in 1966 the fountain was put back into service.
The figure carries a shield and sword, representing Warsaw's protective symbol deeply rooted in the city's story. This mermaid image has become so linked to the city's identity that people recognize it instantly as Warsaw's emblem.
The monument is located near the Świętokrzyski Bridge complex and is easily reached by public transportation. You can walk around it comfortably and the riverside promenade offers many paths for exploring the area on foot.
The face is not Krystyna Krahelska's: Nitschowa used the ethnography student only for the head and torso, and revealed her name after the war. A reduced copy stands in the Warsaw Rising Museum, in the section honouring Krahelska.
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