Josef Jungmann, Bronze memorial in Jungmann Square, Prague, Czech Republic
The Jungmanndenkmal is a bronze statue on a granite pedestal portraying a seated man holding a scroll and pen, located on Jungmann Square in central Prague. The figure sits just beside the Franciscan Church and its adjoining garden.
The foundation stone was laid in 1873 after society decided to honor the important language scholar. The original sculptor Václav Levý could not complete the work, so Ludvík Šimek created the final bronze statue.
The monument honors Josef Jungmann, a scholar who standardized and modernized the Czech language through his comprehensive dictionary work. Visitors encounter a figure represented as someone who shaped how Czech people spoke and understood their own tongue.
The monument sits in a central location, easily reached from Wenceslas Square and several metro stations. The nearby Franciscan Garden provides a quiet spot to pause and view the statue from different angles.
During construction of the Metro B line, workers discovered a time capsule inside the pedestal containing newspapers, coins, and documents from the 1980s. This capsule shows how Prague wanted to preserve a moment in time for the future.
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