Georg Hackenschmidt
Georg Hackenschmidt on spordimaailma suurkuju ja filosoof, keda peetakse üheks aegade kuulsaimaks Eestist pärit sportlaseks.
You can Donate towards the erection of the monument of Georg Hackenschmidt
The cost of the monument, including all the work involved is estimated to be in the region of 300,000 euros.
All donors will be given the public recognition they deserve. Anyone wishing to make an anonymous donation should please notify us separately at raho@festivitas.ee.
The year 2017 marked the 140th anniversary of the birth of Georg Hackenschmidt, the most famous sportsman ever to come from Tartu, a giant of the sporting world and a philosopher. In connection with this, an initiative group comprising Tartu residents submitted a petition to Tartu City Council on 2 May 2016 proposing that a monument be erected in honour of G. Hackenschmidt.
Exactly one year after the initiative group’s proposal, on 2 May 2017, Tartu City Council approved the chosen site and location, namely the green space between the Market Hall and the Riia-Turu junction – its birthplace, where the Hackenschmidt (later ‘Estonia’) wool factory was located before the Second World War.
After the Tartu City Council’s Monuments Committee had approved the idea, a competition involving invited participants was held, which began on 4 July 2016 and ended on 29 September 2016.
The competition terms and conditions stated, amongst other things: ‘The aim of the competition is to produce an artistically outstanding monumental architectural design for a memorial to Georg Hackenschmidt. The memorial is intended to reflect Georg Hackenschmidt as an exceptional sportsman and philosopher. The monument must enhance Tartu’s urban landscape, serve as a significant landmark and mark GH’s birthplace.”
Six high-quality entries offering a wide variety of solutions were submitted to the competition. Following numerous discussions and clarifications, involving both an independent jury invited by the initiative group and representatives from all relevant departments of Tartu City Council, the winning work was finally selected; it had been submitted under the title ‘Kodu.Tee’. On 13 April 2017, the selected design and its location were approved by the Tartu City Council’s Culture Committee, and finally by Tartu City Council on 2 May 2017. View the winning design concept HERE!
In one of his letters to O. Langsepp, Georg Hackenschmidt recalls Tartu, his birthplace, as follows: “When I think of the River Emajõgi, my heart grows quite tender. And the ruins of Toome! How we used to run about there as boys, sometimes with the Toome guards hot on our heels… All these memories feel like sunshine to me… I often rowed down the River Emajõgi up to Kvissentali and Jänese… And how many other images come to the fore in my memories…’ (From a letter by G. Hackenschmidt; see O. Langsepp, ‘Georg Hackenschmidt’, Eesti Raamat, Tallinn, 1968: 85).
