Wroclaw Dwarfs

In the 1980s the Orange Alternative, a Wroclaw movement led by Waldemar Fydrych, responded to martial law with absurdity rather than confrontation: it painted dwarfs over the spots where the authorities had covered anti-government graffiti, and staged street happenings in which crowds in orange hats were arrested for nothing that could be sensibly written in a charge sheet. The dwarf became its symbol. In 2001 a monument to the movement was put up, and from 2005 the city began installing small bronze dwarf figures around the streets - a firefighter, a sleeper, a musician, an ATM user - commissioned by businesses and institutions, and the number has grown past several hundred. They are knee-high or lower, easy to miss, and finding them has become the standard family activity in Wroclaw, with maps and apps sold for it. The origin is the interesting part and is often left out.

What you actually see

• Several hundred bronze figures - knee-high, all over the central streets.
• The Orange Alternative origin - dwarfs painted over censored graffiti under martial law.
• A monument of 2001 - to the movement, before the figures started appearing.
• Maps and hunting - the search itself, which is how most people use them.

When to go

All year. Half a day.

Honest expectations

They are small and often blocked by parked cars, bins or crowds. The number grows constantly and no map is complete. Commissioned dwarfs are advertising as much as art. The political origin is not marked at most of them.

Nearby

The market square, Ostrow Tumski and the Four Denominations District are all within the search area.