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Wroclaw card, the 603 dwarfs in Wroclaw

Dwarfs in Wrocław are a symbol of the city, tourists visiting the city compete in ideas for a photo with a dwarf. Every more famous place in Wrocław tries to get its own Dwarf. Currently, over 600 dwarfs live in the capital of Lower Silesia, there are also those that are outside the city near the more famous attractions of Lower Silesia. Dwarfs in Wrocław have made their homes for good, now there are over 600 of them, but there are more of them every day. But how did it all start?

The first of the theories tells the story of how an unbearable imp once reached the banks of the Oder on his raft. The prankster chose Wrocław as the target of his jokes, and the inhabitants of Wrocław, due to the fact that he had come to the city on a river, called him the Odrzański Chochlik. There was no end to pranks, and Chochlik disturbed the inhabitants of Wrocław at every step. The townspeople were fed up with the trickster. They couldn’t help it though, because Pixie was clever, quick and very small and was extremely hard to catch.

After some time, someone came up with the idea to ask the gnomes for help. At the beginning, the sprites also had a hard time. The trickster scared them and played pranks on them. In the end, however, the dwarfs managed to catch Chochlik and force him to leave the city. So the devil returned to his raft and left forever, or at least he has not been seen since then. In gratitude, and in case the prankster was to return, the inhabitants allowed the dwarfs to settle in Wrocław for good.

It all started in the 1980s. It was then that the first dwarfs appeared in the capital of Lower Silesia. The inhabitants of Wrocław started to paint an orange image resembling a dwarf on the walls of tenement houses. With a cap and a flower in hand. Today we would call it graffiti, but back then it was about more than that. It was the response of the movement called the orange alternative to the extremes of everyday life introduced by the Communist regime. The dwarf was supposed to symbolize a cheerful, mocking approach to the absurd regulations introduced by the rulers, so Wrocław dwarfs also had their share in the fall of communism.

The political system changed, and the dwarfs stayed in Wrocław for good. The form in which they are presented has changed a bit, but they could undoubtedly be the city’s landmark.

krasnale-we-wroclawiu

The first statue of a dwarf in Wrocław was erected in 2001. It was “Papa Dwarf” The figurine was funded by the Agora company and its purpose was to commemorate the Orange Alternative. The next figures were set up in 2005. There were five of them: Odra Washer, Fencer, Butcher, and also Syzyfki. Their author was Tomasz Moczek. The purpose of erecting subsequent figures was to increase the tourist attractiveness of places important to Wrocław, and that is how it all began.

Krasnale-we-wroclawiu

How is it today - Dwarfs in Wrocław

Dwarfs have become a tourist attraction. Private enterprises, places of culture and restaurants, wanting to be more often visited by tourists, started to build their own gnomes. Currently, there are over 600 of them and their number is constantly growing.

The number of Dwarfs in Wrocław is large, and still growing, they can be found near the most important attractions of Wrocław. If you decided to visit the capital of Lower Silesia with children, it might be a good idea to look for Dwarfs in Wrocław. You can do this by purchasing a map of Krasnale at the tourist information point (Rynek 12) or in any souvenir shop. A trip to the Dwarfs in Wrocław can be a great family adventure and provide an unforgettable experience to all its participants.

Dwarfs are no longer just a showcase of Wrocław, it is probably a sign of the times and the effect of globalization. Dwarfs appear in other places in Lower Silesia. Moving around is much easier, and foreign tourists who want to see as much as possible also visit other places in Lower Silesia. So why not, tourism is growing. An example of such a dwarf from outside Wrocław can be a figurine on Mount Ślęża. Will the dwarfs soon become the hallmark of Lower Silesia? Or maybe they will conquer all of Poland?

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