King Sigismund welcomed at Gdansk Airport 

The project is the result of cooperation between Gdansk Airport and the Museum of Gdansk. We want every citizen of Gdansk, but also tourists and travellers from Poland and the world, to get acquainted with a fragment of Gdansk history. The idea of such presentation of the cultural heritage at the Airport is a novelty in Poland.

An artistic copy of the historic sculpture of King Sigismund from the Gdansk Main Town Hall can be now seen at Gdansk Airport. Slightly larger than the original, it measures 220 cm and is made of synthetic resin and recycled materials. The sculpture was created by Bartosz Chylewski, a Gdansk-based artist and sculptor. The platform was made by Mapalu Paweł Łuniewski from Reda. The structure is enclosed by an arch and the whole installation is about three metres high. 

"Gdansk Airport is a great place to present art and historical exhibits, here is a space where modernity and history can coincide," said Waldemar Ossowski, Director of the Museum of Gdansk. 

"Gdansk Airport is visited annually by around 6 million passengers, if only some of them see the new historical installation, it will be a fantastic promotion of Gdansk. We hope that it will appeal to our passengers, that they will keep good memories and, most of all, take souvenir photos with the golden Sigismund," said Tomasz Kloskowski, President of Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport. 

Historically, the statue of Polish King Sigismund II Augustus had been located on the Gdansk Main Town Hall since 1561. The Monarch was initially one of the kings most respected by the former citizens of Gdansk. On 5 July 1557, he issued the Edict of Toleration, a document that guaranteed religious liberty to Protestants. Since Martin Luther published his The Ninety-five Theses against Indulgences, they had been gaining many supporters, mainly among the nobility and townspeople. The statue of Sigismund has been destroyed several times in the following centuries and reconstructed.