History

The sculpture was created by Szeszák Ferenc, born in Kolozsvár, to commemorate the soldiers that guarded the passes of the Carpathians. The origins of the Carpathian Guards can be traced back to King Stephen I of Hungary. After the First World War, it was destroyed by the Romanians who invaded and occupied Transylvania through the Carpathians.

The statue was donated by the landowner Lyka Döme to the city of Kolozsvár and was erected on the 85th birthday of Emperor Franz Joseph on 18 August 1915 on the pedestrian island of the then Deák Ferenc Street. Donors were allowed to hammer a nail into the wooden sculpture. The proceeds were used to support the widows and orphans of soldiers, WHO died in the war. The first nail, the cap's button rose, was hammered in by ispán Count Bethlen Ödön, on behalf of Franz Joseph, who donated 1,000 crowns to the charity.