The city of Slovenj Gradec gained its central Freedom Memorial, or Victory Memorial, as it is usually called, in 1955. The architect Danilo Fürst and the sculptor Stane Keržič designed the monumental memorial on the exposed space in the old city centre, in front of the former medieval northern city gates, next to the park of the former hotel Schuller, later hotel Pohorje and today’s Villa Pohorje, which is one of the most vital spots in Slovenj Gradec, as for many years this is where the bus station was as well. The idea of architect Danilo Fürst, who died in 2005 and is most famous as one of the first designers of once popular single-family prefabricated houses in Slovenia, closely followed the prescribed aesthetic of the socialist regime and thus created one of the most representative examples in Slovenia, as he placed a heroized nude young man as the personified glorification of the rise of a new, socialist human, next to an obelisk, which has symbolized victory and power since the times of Antiquity. The bronze figure of larger-than-life size was created by Stane Keržič, one of the most prominent sculptors of the period, who collaborated with many colleagues for his largest sculptural tasks (most often with Marjan Kerčič Belač).

Text: Marko Košan