A brief history of Golem
The sculpture is the work of David Černy, a Prague artist. The idea behind this work is a kind of artistic point connecting the history of Prague and Poznan. It was in Poznań in the Ha Kehillat szel Pozna district that the creator of Golem and one of the most famous Jewish rabbis of all time, Jehuda Löw ben Becalel, was born in the 16th century. After years of being the town’s chief rabbi, Jehuda Löw ben Becalel just moved to the Czech Republic.
It was in Prague that he made the famous Golem from clay – a human-shaped figure, but larger and stronger, which was supposed to do the hardest work for people. Legend has it that the rabbi brought Golem to life, putting parchment with the word “emet” in his mouth (Hebrew: “truth”).
10 difficult years
The sculpture was erected in Poznań on May 5, 2010 – so it celebrated its 10th anniversary a month ago. During this decade, it decorated Aleja Marcinkowski, becoming a popular attraction among Poznań residents and tourists. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago the sculpture disappeared from the urban landscape because it needed renovation. Too strong wind blew 2.5-meter Golem and made it require a solid renovation.
This is not the first time a similar fate has met the sculpture:
We strongly encourage you to explore Poznań and this important work of art. We are glad that we can be part of it.
CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15288574