PEACE: Thomas Woodrow Wilson 1919 - Prague, Czech republic
Posted by: vraatja
N 50° 05.038 E 014° 25.985
33U E 459441 N 5548120
A bronze statue of Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States and Nobel Prize Winner for peace in 1919, located in a small park outside Prague's main train station
Waymark Code: WMDR09
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 02/17/2012
Views: 141
After 70 years the 3.5-meter tall statue of the 28th U.S. president Woodrow Wilson was unveiled and rededicated outside Prague's main train station October 5, 2011. The original statue dates to the early 1920s, when Albin Polasek, a Czech-American artist, sculpted Wilson's figure, draped in the American flag and with hands outstretched. He positioned the 14-foot-tall statue in front of an oversized chair with arms he carved to resemble American eagles. The figure was placed atop a granite pedestal, etched with the president's name in bronze and inscribed in English and Czech with Wilson's rationale for entering World War I: "The world must be made safe for democracy." This statue was destroyed and removed by the Nazis in 1941. The statue was a thank of people of Czechoslovakia to Wilson, who worked with 1st president of Czechoslovakia Tomas G. Masaryk to create a Czechoslovak state after the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I. In May 1918, Masaryk and Wilson signed the Pittsburgh Agreement, calling for a democratic republic of Czechoslovakia, which Wilson then supported at the 1919 Versailles Peace Conference.
Nobel Prize 1919
The Nobel Peace Prize 1919 was awarded to Woodrow Wilson for his peace-making efforts during and after WW 1. Woodrow Wilson received his Nobel Prize one year later, in 1920. During the selection process in 1919, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided that none of the year's nominations met the criteria as outlined in the will of Alfred Nobel. According to the Nobel Foundation's statutes, the Nobel Prize can in such a case be reserved until the following year, and this statute was then applied. Woodrow Wilson therefore received his Nobel Prize for 1919 one year later, in 1920.
Field of Accomplishment: Peace
Year of Award: 1919
Primary Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
VISIT LOGS
1. The waymark coordinates must be personally visited.
2. Give the date and a description of your visit
3. Post at least one photo taken at the time of your visit