Miner Sculptures in Tarnowskie Góry

Miners holding lamps are Tarnowskie Góry's answer to the dwarfs of Wrocław. Since 2013 the town has unveiled a new outdoor sculpture of a 'gwarek' every year, and by December 2024 there were twelve of them – from the Market Square to outlying districts and former villages. Hunting for them is a good excuse to explore the town beyond its centre and to learn where its nickname, Town of the Gwarki, comes from.

Who the gwarki were

The word comes from the German Gewerke and meant the shareholders or owners of mines that from the 16th century extracted silver and lead ores here. Minerals belonged to the monarch, so the gwarki needed royal permission and paid a levy called the olbora. A mine worker – the equivalent of today's miner – was called a kopacz ('digger'), and it is these diggers that the sculptures actually show. The gwarki live on in the names of a weekly paper, a sports club and a housing cooperative, and above all in the Gwarki Tarnogórskie town festival, held since 1957.

Where to find them

• ul. Krakowska / ul. Tylna (2013) – the first figure, 1.6 m tall, designed by Norbert Jastalski from Zabrze. The miner emerges from a gallery after his shift, and his lamp is powered by two solar panels in the beam above his head, which points towards the Market Square.
• Bus station on ul. Pokoju (2014) and Market Square by the arcades at the end of ul. Przesmyk (2015) – further works by Jastalski.
• Works by Alojzy Niedbała – a folk artist from Bobrowniki Śląskie: the Kaczyniec/Nałkowskiej/Św. Jacka roundabout (2016), the square at Opolska and Królika (2017), Bobrowniki (2018) and Repty Śląskie by the Spring of Youth (2019).
• Stare Tarnowice (2020) – a figure cast from a sculpture by Jerzy Lisek, outside St Martin's Church.
• Opatowice (2021), Osada Jana (2022), Pniowiec (2023) and Lasowice (2024) – miners in the districts.

Did you know

The Osada Jana miner, which cost PLN 40,000, holds a hammer and wedge (pyrlik i żelosko) – the mining tools from the town's coat of arms. At the unveiling the mayor said it was the first figure on which children could be shown what these 'mythical' objects are. The first miner on ul. Krakowska was unlucky: after being hit by a car it was repaired and returned in 2020, this time protected by bollards. Since 2017 unveilings have usually taken place on St Barbara's Day, 4 December.

Tripto tips

The first three sculptures can be seen on foot in the centre in under an hour, but the full route through the districts needs a car or bike. The sculptures stand in public spaces, so you can see them at any time. In September combine the walk with the Gwarki Tarnogórskie festival, and at any time of year with the town's mining heritage sites.