Millennium Monument

The monument was erected to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the Congress of Gniezno in the year 2000, hence the name “Millennium.” In the year 1000, a council was held in Gniezno attended by Prince Bolesław Chrobry, Emperor Otto III (who was on a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Adalbert), and legates of Pope Sylvester II; among other things, the Polish ecclesiastical organization was established at this council. Three bishoprics—in Wrocław, Kraków, and Kołobrzeg—were subordinate to the Archdiocese of Gniezno. The first bishop of Kołobrzeg was Reibern, who hailed from the Hassegau district in Thuringia. This significant religious and political event is reflected in the symbolism of the monument, in which both leaders occupy a central place. The most powerful element of the sculpture, however, is the cross—strong and solid at its base, torn apart in the middle, and reunited at the top. This cross also serves as a summary of the history of Polish-German relations. Bolesław and Otto were friends, and neighborly relations between the two countries were based on Christian values. Then, as seen in the torn arms of the cross, a time of war (the broken Polish eagle) and bloodshed (the red color on the jagged fragments) ensued. Based on shared values, now within the European Union, the arms of the cross come together (united by a dove with an olive branch—a symbol of peace).

Following the death of the Polish Pope John Paul II and the election of the German Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, the monument’s creator, Wiktor Szostało, proposed commemorating these exceptional events. Therefore, in 2008, the monument was expanded with the addition of sculptures of both popes, reflecting contemporary Polish-German relations. 

The stainless-steel monument, in both its original and expanded versions, was funded by the residents of Kołobrzeg and local companies, a fact commemorated on plaques affixed to the rear of the pedestal.