The Dwarves of Wrocław

The city of Wroclaw is famous for its charming market square, stunning old houses, and majestic churches. But lurking below near the ground, on the sidewalk and around corners, is an entirely different kind of attraction that demands the same attention as one gives to the city’s taller landmarks. It’s a legion of gnomes, no more than seven inches tall, hiding under benches, sleeping on windowsills, and reclining on city parks.

Credit: Wrocław Official/Flickr

“Stay long enough and you may find an entire society of dwarf merchants, bankers, buskers, professors and postmen. There’s a doctor holding a mini stethoscope, a gardener pushing a teeny wheelbarrow and a dwarf dentist extracting itty-bitty dwarf teeth. One is snoring by a hotel, two are kissing in front of the marriage registration office and 19 are performing a dwarf symphony outside the city’s concert hall,” writes the BBC.

The city’s association with dwarves began in the 1980s, when a far-left anti-communist underground movement called Orange Alternative began to protest against the authoritarian regime of the country. Led by activist Waldemar Fydrych, the group protested peacefully against the government’s censorship of free speech and public gatherings by defacing communist propaganda with paintings of clowns, elves, and dwarves. Participants demonstrated by marching through the streets wearing orange cone-shaped hats and passing out candy and flowers to bystanders. Eventually, these dwarves became a symbol of the movement and the city itself.

Credit: Wrocław Official/Flickr

The movement disbanded in 1989, the same year Polish Communism crumbled. In 2001, as a tribute to the Orange Alternative, the city erected its first dwarf—a bronze statue of a large dwarf named ‘Papa Dwarf’ on Świdnicka street. As the years passed, more sculptures began appearing on the streets of Wroclaw. The first few were made by artist Tomasz Moczek, who was hired by the city to continue this fantasy-driven street artwork. Soon, local sculptors joined in with the effort.

“I wanted to create something that’s completely integrated into the city – something that seems like it’s always been there that you’re just now discovering,” Moczek said. “I wanted them to be small, to blend in with their surroundings, to tell stories, to make people smile, to be universal and apolitical,” he continues.

Today, there are more than four hundred gnomes all over the city, of which over one hundred were made by Moczek alone.