The statue of Martin Středa commemorates the siege of Brno by the Swedish army

Brno – Today, workers placed a statue of Father Martin Středa by sculptor Jan Šebánek on Beethoven Street in Brno next to the Jesuit church. The ceremonial unveiling is scheduled by the city management for Saturday, said Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL), the deputy mayor, to ČTK.

"It is nice that the statue will symbolically stand in front of the Jesuit church, where Martin Středa was rector. At the same time, it has a view of the presbytery of St. James' church, where another of Brno's saviors, Radouit de Souches, is buried," Hladík noted.

The statue, which is part of the project Sculptures for Brno, was originally supposed to be taken over by the city in June, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed its production, so the handover was postponed to August. It will be unveiled symbolically on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when Brno, in 1645, partially thanks to Martin Středa, repelled the last attack of the Swedish army.

In the coming days, the city is also preparing the unveiling of the Adolf Loos memorial, which was also originally supposed to be finished in June. A covered work already stands at Janáček Square near the Continental Hotel, with its unveiling planned for August 20.