Socha trpaslíka, منحوتة
Socha trpaslíka is a cast iron sculpture in the spa park of Poděbrady with a movable hammer hand that strikes a metal mushroom to announce the time. The small figure wears a hat and has a round face, standing about 3 feet (1 meter) tall with a rough iron surface.
The figure was created in 1938 after a concept from 1936 when a hydroelectric plant manager visited another town with a similar timepiece and brought the idea back to his colleagues. During communist rule it was removed in 1960 as a bourgeois ornament, but returned to its original spot near the flower clock in 1997.
The dwarf remains a familiar landmark where visitors and locals stop to photograph it or watch it work. Its regular striking of quarter-hours marks time in the daily rhythm of the park and city.
The sculpture strikes every 15 minutes throughout the day, so its movements and sounds are easy to notice even though the figure is partially hidden behind the flower clock. The location is freely accessible at any time, though there is little shelter from weather.
The figure had a dramatic rescue: a woman named Anna Vodičková saved it from demolition in the 1970s and 1980s by hiding it at her cottage until it could return to the park. This private act of preservation kept a local landmark from disappearing entirely.
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