Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Charles de Gaulle Statue

  • Warsaw – Charles de Gaulle Statue

    Warsaw – Charles de Gaulle Statue

    Wikipedia notes that there are four statues of Charles de Gaulle outside France, located in Warsaw, Moscow, Bucharest and Quebec City. I’m sure that there are more, but that’s not a bad start and I saw the one in Bucharest a few months ago. This statue in Warsaw is apparently similar (well, it’s the same statue, so very similar) to that of the former French President on Champs Elysées in Paris.

    The statue was given to the city of Warsaw by the French Government, which is an interesting strategy as I’m not what sure what the city would do if the UK presented the Poles with a statue of Boris Johnson. There is support for Charles de Gaulle in Poland, but it’s more to do with his contribution to the Second Polish Republic in 1920, following the end of the First World War. Actually, with reference to Boris Johnson, the statue was unveiled in 2005 by Michel Barnier in his then role as the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, but now better known for his role with Brexit.

  • Bucharest – Charles de Gaulle Statue

    Bucharest – Charles de Gaulle Statue

    As with many things in the world, this puzzles me. The statue is located in Charles de Gaulle Square, a name that it was given in the late 1990s, having previously been known as Aviators’ Square (the Metro station still has that name) and before that, General Stalin Square and Hitler Square. The statue was installed in late September 2006 and was designed by Mircea Spătaru, standing 4.6 metres tall (the statue, not the designer).

    I understand that the statue was placed here because of the name of the square, but I’m puzzled why they chose Charles de Gaulle in particular when they were renaming the square. The text on the statue itself doesn’t really help me here.

    The statue feels just a bit basic looking to me, but it’s probably modernist and I rarely understand such things. Anyway, it’s quite a spectacle and something a little different.