Even though little dwarfs’ statues are quite a new tradition in Wrocław they already are quite a prominent sign of the city. It all started in the 80’ when painted dwarfs were appearing on the city walls as a response to the communist oppression. With those gnomes painted on the walls Orange Alternatives (the main protest movement) was humiliating the government that was trying to cover all the anti-communism writings and limiting the freedom of speech. The statues came much later. The first one called Papa Krasnal (Dad Gnome) was created in 2001 as a monument for the memory of what the Orange Alternative did. On 2005 the first 5 little dwarfs came and since then they have been growing in numbers. Now there are more than 300 gnomes and they are everywhere in the city. There is one eating pierogi (polish dumpling), another one drinking like crazy, even a hippo cleaner and a butcher. They are small enough not to be spotted easily. You have to search for them! And that’s when the fun starts!:) Our favorites below. If you need a little help to find them, we created a map below the post:)
- Krasnale Zraszacze- the Sparkling Water gnomes
There are two of them and they are by far our favorite ones. Not only are they cute but they bring a lot of joy to the kids and adults, locals and tourists. They sparkle water on hot summer days. They are actually new to the collection because the appeared on the Market Square just in june this year.
- Pomagajek- the Helpy Dwarf
Situated in front of a gift shop on the Market Square. He is encouraging people to buy gifts with him on them. By buying it you can help kids with incurable diseases. The Helpy dwarf looks really friendly and is supposed to remind us how important it is to help each other.
- Więzień- The Prisoner
Locked on the Wiezienna Street he has been sentenced with uncontrollable apatite. First he was stealing food from the tourists which was not so bad according to other gnomes but then he dared to steal pierogi even from his own kind. Sentenced for social work he was still unable to control his appetite so he ended up as a Prisoner.
- Krasnale Filharmonii Wrocławskiej- the Filharmony Dwarfs
There is a whole orchestra of dwarfs practicing outside of the Filharmony. They were unfortunately denied rehearsals inside the building. When we were there they were also imprisoned for a festival. I guess for their own good.
- WrocLovek- WrocLover
That gnome is in love with Wrocław and its people. He loves tourists as well and he wants to spread his love everywhere. He’s situated just on one of the corners of the Market Square.
- Chrapek- the Snorer
He sleeps in front of the Patio Hotel. Probably he got kicked out for snoring and disturbing other guests. But he is still a cute dwarf so at least they gave him a bed.
- Ottuś- the Otto Dwarf
Otto is a work agency and Ottuś is there every day running to bring his CV. He is very enthusiastic and sure this time he will get a job. Tale says he already got a job abroad. He has only one shoe, probably from all this rush. We also heard that touching his CV brings luck, financially and at work.
- Wypłatnik- the Withdrawer
By some he is called the Spender because sometimes he disappears to spend all the money that he managed to withdraw. In Wrocław there are a few banking dwarfs but this one is quite special. He doesn’t only have his cash machine but also his own little bank. He can be found in front of BZ WBK bank at the Market Square.
- The Modern dwarfs
We couldn’t find their names so we gave them our own names:) They are the Modern dwarfs and they don’t care about the tourists or locals they are too busy with their social media, phones, computers and tvs. There are quite a few of those but we chose our favorite two. Both can be spotted in the city center.
How to find them all?
It’s very hard because everyone can buy a dwarf so they grow in numbers quite rapidly. Also when a bank or restaurant moves and they own a gnome, they take him with them. Some of the gnomes also get stolen or they are a victim of vandalism. There is a database, it’s not complete but it’s the best there is. Go to krasnale.pl and you will find a map and some info on the particular dwarfs.