Fidelity Column

Fidelity Column, also known as Victory Monument, is a statue located in Heroes' Cemetery of Timișoara's Lipovei district.[1] The statue was donated to Timișoara in 1853 by Emperor Franz Joseph I as a sign of his gratitude for the resistance shown during the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849. It is inscribed in the list of historical monuments with the code TM-IV-m-A-06330.[2]

Fidelity Column
Coloana Fidelității
45°46′8″N 21°13′36″E
LocationHeroes' Cemetery, Timișoara
DesignerJosef Kranner
TypeStatue
MaterialStone
Height20 m
Beginning date1852
Opening date1853
LMI codeTM-IV-m-A-06330

History

Fidelity Column is almost 20 meters high, is made in neo-Gothic style, and the pedestal is a fortress with monsters reminiscent of Gothic cathedrals. They represented the defeated Hungarian revolutionaries during the siege of Timișoara (1849).[3] The column was built three years later. The foundation stone of the monument dedicated to those who lost their lives in the siege was laid by Emperor Franz Joseph I himself.[4] The inauguration took place in 1853, in Prinz-Eugen-Platz/Jenő herceg tér (present-day Liberty Square). The statue of Maria Theresa, mounted among the four pillars of the monument, is today in the courtyard of Huniade Castle and was restored in 2014.[5] The empress was "beheaded" in 1918 during Béla Kun's revolution, and the monument stayed like this in the square until 1936, when it was moved for political reasons to the Heroes' Cemetery.[3]

The monument was designed by architect Josef Kranner, who, among other things, restored and enlarged the St. Vitus Cathedral within Prague's Hradčany. Also, the statues of the Fidelity Column were made by sculptor Josef Max, responsible for one of the statues that adorn the famous Charles Bridge in Prague.[4]

In 2013, the then mayor Nicolae Robu proposed the relocation of the monument from the Heroes' Cemetery to Nicolae Bălcescu Square.[6] The local branch of UDMR vehemently opposed the initiative, considering the monument offensive to the Hungarian community in the city.[7] The initiative was eventually abandoned.[5]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fidelity Column.
  1. Mîț, Adriana (4 August 2019). "Coloana Fidelității, în paragină. Direcția Județeană de Cultură cere Primăriei Timișoara să ia măsuri urgente". pressalert.ro.
  2. "Lista monumentelor istorice din județul Timiș". Direcția Județeană pentru Cultură Timiș.
  3. Both, Ștefan (10 January 2012). "Monumentul "Fidelității" este uitat într-un cimitir din Timișoara. Vezi cum a fost "decapitată" statuia". Adevărul.
  4. Bălulescu, Lavinia (30 August 2012). "Capodoperă de pe vremea Imperiului Austriac, uitată într-un cimitir din Timișoara". Adevărul.
  5. Deaconescu, Roxana (14 August 2014). "Coloana Fidelității nu se mai mută în Piața Bălcescu? Cum se eschivează oficialii din Ministerul Culturii!". Opinia Timișoarei.
  6. "Primăria Timișoara vrea să mute Monumentul Fidelității din Cimitirul Eroilor". TION. 4 September 2012.
  7. "UDMR: Coloana Fidelității - un simbol jignitor pentru populația maghiară din Timișoara". TION. 30 July 2013.
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