Slůně, Stone elephant statue in Králický Sněžník, Dolní Morava, Czech Republic
Slůně is a granite sculpture of an elephant standing on a low stone pylon beside the ruined Lichtenštejn's Hut, near the source of the Morava River below the summit of Králický Sněžník. It faces the town of Staré Město pod Sněžníkem and the Hanušovice Highlands.
The sculptor Amei Hallegger, wife of Kurt Hallegger, designed the elephant, and the Förster stonemasonry firm in Zlaté Hory carved it in 1932 for the tenth anniversary of the artists' group Jescher, which met at the Lichtenstein hut. That hut decayed after the Second World War and was demolished in 1971, leaving the elephant as the only reminder of First Republic tourism on Králický Sněžník.
The elephant was adopted as the symbol of the Jescher artists' group, founded in 1922, which met at the Lichtenstein hut. Members greeted each other with "ješ", after the sound of a sneezing elephant, and sculptor Amei Hallegger designed the figure for the group's tenth anniversary in 1932.
The statue stands beside the ruin of the Lichtenstein Hut near the source of the Morava River, below the summit of Králický Sněžník. The site is freely accessible all year. The Králický Sněžník educational trail and other marked hiking routes pass by it.
The elephant looks toward Staré Město pod Sněžníkem and the Hanušovická vrchovina hills. Its trunk is raised as if sneezing, which fits the story: the artists' group Jescher, named after a song about the Ještěd valley, reinterpreted its name as the sound "ješ" made by a sneezing elephant and adopted the animal as its symbol.
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