Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk

The Monument to Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk stands in the centre of Boskovice, on náměstí 9. května, right in front of today's town hall building. It is one of many Czech monuments honouring the first president of Czechoslovakia, but the Boskovice statue's history stands out for a dramatic episode during the wartime occupation — the monument survived only thanks to the courage of a handful of local residents.

Where did the idea for the monument come from?

The initiative to erect a monument to Masaryk came from local legionnaires following the president's visit to Boskovice in 1929. A visit by the head of state to a small Moravian town was significant enough that the community of former legionnaires decided to mark it with a permanent monument.

Who designed and made the statue?

The model was created by Leopold Schmidt, a grammar-school professor, artist and former legionnaire himself. The actual sculptural work, however, was entrusted to academic sculptor Josef Otoupal, who also lived in Boskovice. The pairing of a local amateur initiator with a professional sculptor from the same town gave the whole project a distinctly civic, grassroots character.

When was the monument unveiled?

The ceremonial unveiling took place on Sunday, 7 October 1934, in front of the building that then housed the district office, on today's náměstí 9. května. The date falls within a period when similar monuments to the "liberator president" were being erected across Czechoslovakia — Masaryk was, at the time, still a living symbol of the country's independence.

What happened to the monument during the occupation?

On 27 July 1940, the Boskovice district office, acting under pressure from the German occupation authorities, ordered the immediate removal of the Masaryk monument, which represented values entirely at odds with the occupier's ideology. The order was to be carried out at once, with police assistance.

Thanks to the actions of several brave residents, the statue was not melted down. A gendarme from Jedovnice named Slám and a Boskovice resident named Juříček helped mayor Metoděj Šebela hide the statue in the municipal archive. A false report was then submitted to the occupation authorities, claiming the monument had been handed over for scrap-metal collection — a common pretext at the time for destroying inconvenient symbols. Thanks to this deception, the original statue survived the war in hiding.

Where does the monument stand today?

The monument is located at náměstí 9. května 954/2 in Boskovice, directly in front of the town hall building — the very spot where it was first placed at its unveiling in 1934. It stands today as both a symbol of local memory of the First Republic era and a quiet testament to residents' resistance against occupation orders.

Who was Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk?

Masaryk (1850–1937) was the first and longest-serving president of Czechoslovakia, a philosopher and political activist regarded as the founding father of independent Czechoslovakia and known as the "liberator president." Among the population he earned the affectionate nickname "Tatíček" (little father), and the abbreviation of his name, TGM, remains a widely recognised symbol of the First Czechoslovak Republic to this day.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly does the Masaryk monument stand in Boskovice? At náměstí 9. května 954/2, in front of the town hall building, on the same spot where it was unveiled in 1934.

Who made the monument? Leopold Schmidt created the model, and the statue itself was made by academic sculptor Josef Otoupal — both connected to Boskovice.

When was the monument unveiled? On 7 October 1934, in the presence of local residents and representatives of local authorities.

What happened to the monument during World War II? In 1940 the German occupation authorities ordered its removal. With the help of gendarme Slám and resident Juříček, mayor Metoděj Šebela hid the statue in the municipal archive, while a false report claimed it had been surrendered for scrap metal — which is how it survived the war.

Is the monument worth seeing while visiting Boskovice? Yes — it stands right in the town centre, on the main square, so it naturally falls along any walk through the historic town centre around náměstí 9. května.