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All Czechia Liberec Hostina Obrů (Feast of Giants)

Hostina Obrů (Feast of Giants)

An unusual bronze bus shelter is actually an art installation commenting on the city's history with the Nazi party.

Liberec, Czechia

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Sebastián Wortys
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David Černý’s “Feast of Giants” bus stop shelter.   Maudi
David Černý’s “Feast of Giants” bus stop shelter.   Maudi
Waiting for the bus beneath “Hostina Obrů.”   encsere
David Černý’s “Feast of Giants” bus stop shelter.   encsere
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When Czech artist David Černý was tasked with creating a piece of public art for a bus stop in Liberec, rather than making something whimsical like his London Booster or the babies crawling up Žižkov Tower, Černý installed a piece of biting commentary on the city's political history.

Liberec is part of Sudetenland, a ring of German enclaves around Czechia's borders. During World War II, Liberec became the epicenter of the German nationalist movement in Czechia. From 1938 until the end of the war, the city was part of Nazi Germany. The Jews of Liberec mostly fled from their city, after which Liberec's main synagogue was burnt to the ground.

Černý's bus shelter pays homage to Liberec's complicated history. "Hostina Obrů," or "Feast of Giants," is in the shape of a table, with an array of representative items atop it. A toppled menorah sits between Czech and German beer steins. A vase stands full of carnivorous Venus flytraps, poised to swallow the insects in their jaws. Lastly, a human head lays cheek down on a dinner plate alongside traditional Liberec sausages, pierced by a fork and knife. This is the head of Konrad Henlein, a Czech politician who acted as Hitler's puppet while the Nazi party annexed Sudetenland. 

Five regular-sized bronze chairs sit below the giant dinner table. This is where people wait for the bus at the "Sokolská u zdi" stop, dwarfed beneath the city's heavy history.

Related Tags

Public Works Art Sculptures Statues Giant Heads Giant Nazis Transportation World War Ii David Cerny Military

Know Before You Go

Feast of Giants is 35 m north of the Theater F. X. Šaldy.

Community Contributors

Added By

Sebastian Wortys

Edited By

Molly McBride Jacobson

  • Molly McBride Jacobson

Published

May 15, 2017

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Sources
  • https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_%C4%8Cern%C3%BD#Hostina_obr.C5.AF
  • http://www.mywanderlust.pl/quirky-prague-art-by-david-cerny/#Bus_stop_in_Liberec
  • http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM6GAF_The_Giants_Breakfast_bus_stop_in_Liberec_Czech_Republic
  • https://www.private-prague-guide.com/article/the-defiant-and-controversial-czech-artist-david-cerny/
  • http://www.tracesofevil.com/search/label/Liberec
Hostina Obrů (Feast of Giants)
nám. Dr. E. Beneše 27
Liberec
Czechia
50.770975, 15.05935
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