At the station in Pardubice, a model of the statue of Jan Perner was on display

visualization: med : pavlík architects

Pardubice - Today at the Pardubice train station, people had the opportunity to see a model of the statue of Jan Perner by academic sculptor Jaroslav Brož. The statue will be part of the space in front of the train station building. The sculptor is portraying the railway builder Perner for the second time; last year he completed his bust.

A bronze statue, 190 centimeters tall, will be accompanied by sleepers about 20 meters long, part of which forms Perner’s name. The striding figure has its arms crossed over its chest.

"We do not want the statue to overshadow the people around it," Brož told ČTK. He based it on the prevalent idea of what Perner looked like, as not many likenesses of him have survived. The gesture of the hands is meant to express pride in his construction work.

The statue is part of the project Přednádraží, in which the municipality is preparing a modern transport terminal. Construction work is expected to begin in October. The academic sculptor based his work on a project by the med : pavlík architects office, which had considered the statue in its design.

"Finally, it is acknowledged that when a public space is discussed, a statue can also be part of it," said Jiří Kotyk, vice-chairman of the Jan Perner Society.

According to the project, the statue was originally supposed to cost 250,000 crowns, but it will ultimately come to 2.3 million crowns. The total price of the construction contract resulting from the competition is 143 million crowns, with the city budget allocating 145 million crowns, so there will be money for the statue, said Deputy Mayor Helena Dvořáčková to ČTK.

The city directly assigned the contract to Jaroslav Brož, who is also the author of the statue of T. G. Masaryk in Čsl. legií Square. According to the deputy mayor, the selection procedure was unnecessary since the statue was part of a project where it was already clear that it should be a figure, how large it should be, and that it would be accompanied by sleepers.

The railway builder and designer Perner died prematurely at the age of 30 in 1845. While traveling by train, he hit his head on a signaling pole after stepping down onto the last step of the carriage behind the Chocen bridge. He died the next day at home. Perner had no children, but the Tynec branch of the family did. A relative of Perner today received honorary citizenship at the station, which the city awarded to its native son.

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