Monument "To Those Who Did Not Return from the Sea" in Szczecin

The Monument "To Those Who Did Not Return from the Sea" stands in the Szczecin Central Cemetery, on Okólna Street, between children's sections 13 and 14. It commemorates sailors who died at sea and is a symbolic grave.

Origins

The authors of the design are the Kraków visual artists Małgorzata Schubert-Radnicka and Maciej Radnicki. The monument was unveiled on 15 October 1989 on the initiative of the Szczecin Club of Master Mariners, and it was blessed by Bishop Kazimierz Majdański. The ceremony began with the ship's bell striking four "glasses". Every year on the eve of the inauguration of the academic year of the Maritime University of Szczecin a solemn tribute is paid here.

Symbolism and layout

The monument depicts sea waves, symbolising the grave of all the oceans, from which the mast of a sunken ship emerges, forming part of a cross. A stylised quay with a bollard signifies the calm haven of the home port. A container of water has been walled into the body of the monument, drawn by the captains of ships of Polska Żegluga Morska (the Polish Steamship Company) from all the seas and oceans of the world.

Behind the monument stands a semicircular wall with the names of ships and the names of those who did not return from the sea. On the day of the unveiling there were 175 brass plaques on it, and at the end of 2007 there were 258. In front of the monument lies a square paved with slabs bearing the date "1989", and the whole is surrounded by a fence of anchor chains and ship's lamps.

Practical information

• Location: within the Szczecin Central Cemetery, Okólna Street.
• Cemetery rules apply; its opening hours are given by the cemetery administration.