A statue of Schiller by the Viennese sculptor Georg Leisek (erected on 11 November 1907) originally stood in front of the German City Theatre, but it was removed on 22 January 1922 as part of the Romanianisation of the theatre and moved to the courtyard of the German House at 47 Jancu Flondor Street (53 O. Kobyljanska Street). After the Soviet annexation of Northern Bukovina in 1940, the marble statue was removed and is still missing. The pedestal is currently located in the courtyard of the German House in Herrengasse (now Kobylianska Street), which can be accessed from Czeliuskinziw Street.
In 1941, after the invasion of Chernivtsi by Romanian and German troops, a remarkable toppling of the monument took place in front of the theatre, captured by Willy Pragher's photographer. The head of the statue of Lenin erected by the Soviets was cut off. In 1963, a statue of the Ukrainian national poet Olga Kobylanska was erected in front of the now renamed Kobylanska Theatre, which was replaced by a modernised version in 1980.
Text: Steffen Höhne
