Bar Column / Polish Freedom Column in Rapperswil

Graphics made by Johann Conrad Werdmüller, a copperplate engraver, according to Julius Stadler’s sketch. This is the earliest known depiction of the Polish Freedom Column in Rapperswil. However, it does not present an erected monument, but its design. This is indicated by the environment in which the column is located. Its location directly on the shore of the lake was only a preliminary proposal. Eventually, it stood in a different place, not far from the originally planned one - at the western end of the Lindenhof castle hill, which is a lively and elegant Rapperswil walking area. Although in the drawing according to Stadler's drawing, the monument was shown before its implementation, it did not prevent it becoming a prototype for many later copies and imitations (often introducing additional motifs - mainly in the form of figurative staffage in the foreground to make the composition of the work more vivid).