Kunětická hora a blízké okolí

The statue of Radegast - God of the Sun, Abundance and Crops was executed in artificial stone by Albín Polášek, (1879-1965) a native of Frenštát, a professor at Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago.
It is 3.2m tall and weighs 1.4 ton.

The statue of Radegast has become an inseparable part of the Radhošť range. However, in the long years of harsh weather the artificial stone deteriorated and the statue had to be disassembled and restored. The task was undertaken by Olomouc sculptors K. Hořínek and Son in 1980. They repaired the cracks, filled the cavity of the statue with concrete and armoured it. The 11th June 1982 saw the statue back on its original place.
Unfortunately, this restoration could not protect the work of art permanently, and so it was decided to replace the original with a granite replica. The task was entrusted to the Association of Monumental Masons and Restorers in Leskovec - namely to Jan Sobek and Miroslav Zubíček, supervised by Academic sculptor Miroslav Machala.
The original Radegast statue was moved from Radhošť in 1996. This was also the year the Nošovice Brewery, that uses Radegast´s image as its logo, undertook to cover the cost of the copy - nearly a million Czech crowns.
The masons needed only a few months to carve the copy (3.28m high, weighing 3.2 tons) from a 16.5ton granite block. The new Radegast has reined the Radhošť ridge and the countryside below from its original base since 4th July 1998.

The original statue of Radegast was unveiled and together with the sculpture of Sts. Cyril and Methodius ceremoniously handed over to the public on the occasion of the Slavonic Wake on 5th July 1931, the day commemorating the two saints. The Wake was organised both by Matice Radhošťská and Pohorská Jednota Radhošť (a tourist club), under the sponsorship of the Czechoslovak government. The statue was paid for by the Czech countrymen in the USA, who presented it to their native country.
Albín Polášek started his work on Radegast in 1924, and several versions of the theme had been completed in the States before, in 1931, the sculptor hired Novák's studio in Prague. There he made the definitive version of the statue. It represents the body of a male with a lion's head adorned with a helmet in the shape of a bull' head with horns. The god holds a cornucopia in his right hand and a hatchet in his left hand.
Later Albín Polášek personally supervised casting of the statue in artificial stone with iron core. Mašek´s foundry cast two copies, one for Radhošť, the other intended for Polášek´s garden in Winter Park, Florida. The latter one was then placed in the Prague Zoo.
The sculpture of Sts. Cyril and Methodius was cast in the same foundry and at the same time, but in bronze. In September 1930, after a very complicated transfer, both works of art were installed at Radhošť.

The plaster original of the Sts. Cyril and Methodius can be seen in the lobby of the town hall, which currently also houses the restored original statue of Radegast. It was moved there from Radhošť by decision of Ministry of Culture, and unveiled on 6th November 1998.

ICM Frenštát p. R.