"Sleeping Lion"

"Sleeping Lion" – the sculpture was made by Gliwickie Zakłady Urządzeń Technicznych SA in 2007. It is a copy of a sculpture cast for Bytom for the Berlin foundry owned by Hermann Gladenbeck in 1873, according to a design by Theodor Kalide. In 1820s, the "Sleeping Lion" sculpture became a symbol of soldiers who died on battlefield and a tribute to their heroism and sacrifice. It was ordered by cities throughout Germany which wanted to commemorate their heroes. Lions were placed in Berlin, Dortmund, but also in Gliwice, Bytom and Legnica. The "Sleeping Lion" of Gliwice was presented in 1849 at a cemetery of soldiers who died in Gliwice hospitals during Napoleonic wars, located at the current ul. Na Piasku.

Theodor Erdmann Kalide

He was one of the most prominent sculptors of Upper Silesia. He was related to the Royal Iron Foundry in Gliwice. Author of lion sculptures – characteristic city monuments. He was born in 1801 in Chorzów. He left for 1819 to Berlin, where he first studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and then continued his own artistic activity. His models were used to cast sculptures which remain today in many cities in Poland and Europe. Gliwice, in addition to the "Vigilant Lion" (ul. Dolnych Wałów, in front of the Caro Villa) and the "Sleeping Lion" (Valenciennes Square near the City Hall), also thank him for the famous "Boy and Swan" (Dessau Square). He was also an author of monuments, including that of Frederic the Great for Wrocław and Friedrich Schiller for Berlin. He died in 1863 in Gliwice, where he spent the last years of his life. He was buried at the Foundry Cemetery.