Fountain with Three Fauns in Gliwice

The Fountain with Three Fauns stands in Gliwice in front of the City Hall building, the former Haus Oberschlesien Hotel, on Zwycięstwa street. Residents commonly call it the “Diabełki” (Little Devils).

What the fountain looks like

The fountain shows three dancing fauns holding hands. It was cast in iron at the Gliwice Steelworks in 1928. The figures stand on a cylindrical plinth decorated with a motif of rams' heads and festoons. In 2010 the fauns were restored.

Two stories about the little devils

According to one version, the three dancers symbolise the mayors of Gliwice, Zabrze and Bytom, who could not agree on the merger of the towns into a single tri-city conurbation planned before the war.

According to the second, the fauns are the owners of three construction firms that were to build the Hotel Oberschlesien on waterlogged ground. Work was interrupted because of groundwater, the firms went bankrupt, and the hotel was finally built on the main street linking the Market Square with the station. These are folk tales, not documented facts.

Nearby

A few hundred metres from the fountain lie Fryderyk Chopin Park, the Municipal Palm House and Villa Caro.

Practical information

• Address: Zwycięstwa 21, Gliwice, in front of the City Hall building.
• The fountain stands in an urban space and can be seen at any time.