Pomnik Niepodległości, Kielce

Independence Monument in Kielce - a monument located on Independence Square in Kielce, near the railroad station. It commemorates the first battles between the Riflemen and the Russians in August 1914.

The monument was created on the initiative of Kielce railroad workers, the project was carried out by Czesław Czapski - a student of Warsaw University of Technology and son of the stationmaster of Kielce railroad station. The monument was solemnly unveiled on 3 November 1929 by Minister of Communications Alfons Kühn; a field mass was held earlier. The monument consisted of about five-meter high pedestal, made of Szydłowiec sandstone, and a sculpture of a globe with the crowned eagle of the Piast Dynasty rising to fly. In September 1939 the monument was destroyed by the Germans.

At the beginning of the 21st century the monument was reconstructed. The unveiling took place on November 11, 2002. The reconstruction was made possible by a detailed photograph showing the monument from 1929.

The present monument is about 11 meters high. The pedestal is made of granite and sits on a double plinth. In its lower part there are four commemorative plates, and in the middle part there are four emblems. The upper part is a globe from which a one and a half meter high bronze crowned Vasa eagle takes flight.