Mini-sculpture “Harry Houdini”
🕒 Date of last update of the article: 10.02.2024 at 10:49 p.m | 🖋 Author: Viktor Shatrov
Few people know that the legendary magician and master of amazing escapes from cells and chests, Harry Houdini, has Transcarpathian roots. He was born in 1874 in Budapest, which, like Uzhgorod, was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. And Houdini’s relatives lived in Transcarpathia. His grandmother lived in the village of Storozhytsia, Uzhgorod district.
It is not surprising that Uzhgorod residents decided to install a mini-sculpture of their famous countryman. It was installed on his birthday – 24 March 2015. The author of this mini-masterpiece in bronze is sculptor Mykhailo Kolodko.
After the opening, the sculpture suddenly disappeared. Later it turned out that it was a gift to Houdini’s hometown, Budapest. But soon, the mini-sculpture appeared as if from nowhere in its old place and stands on Bohdan Khmelnytsky Square in front of the Uzhgorod Hotel. (GPS: 48.621376, 22.287033).
Photos and video of the Harry Houdini mini-sculpture
| 🗺 Location |
N48°37′17″ E22°17′13″ |
| 🗽 Opening date |
03/24/2015 |
| 🧑 Sculptor |
Mykhailo Kolodko |
| 🧭 Distance from the center of Uzhgorod |
Near |
| 🚙 Road for |
Car, on foot |
| 🏕 Stop with a tent |
No |
| 🏡 Housing nearby |
Uzhgorod |
| ☕ Cafes and shops |
Uzhgorod |
Detailed description of the mini-sculpture of magician Harry Houdini
The sculpture depicts Houdini performing one of his most famous acts, when he escaped from the captivity of chains connected by strong padlocks. He was a master of such tricks and knew the way out of the most incredible situations.
The mini-sculpture is installed on a pedestal to which anyone can attach a padlock, thinking about their problem and hoping that the spirit of the famous magician will help solve it.
The legend of the mini-sculpture of Uzhgorod Harry Houdini
An interesting legend related to this mini-sculpture is told by Nadiya Popadiuk in her book Uzhgorod – the World Capital of Mini-Sculptures. According to this legend, the future magician often visited his grandmother in his childhood, who lived in the village of Yovria (now Storozhnytsia) near Uzhgorod. It was she who taught the legendary master the first card tricks of incredible liberation from unreliable fetters and locks. When his family emigrated to the United States, Harry began performing these card tricks publicly in New York City’s entertainment venues at the age of 10, and his career as an illusionist began. During his tour of Europe in 1900, Houdini came to Uzhgorod, where he demonstrated his self-liberation from the casemates in honour of his grandmother Uzhgorod Castle. According to the legend, locked in the “Torture Room”, dressed in prisoner’s clothes and massive shackles, he came out two minutes later and entered the secret passages for dwarves, and fifteen minutes after he was locked up, he appeared in the castle moat dressed in his costume. A bronze mini-sculpture of Harry Houdini was found near the broken shackles, which the owners of Uzhgorod Castle donated to the city and installed near the road leading to the village of Storozhnytsia (in front of the Uzhgorod Hotel).
How to get to the mini-sculpture of Harry Houdini in Uzhgorod?
| 🔰 Start |
From the mini-sculpture “Swan Lake” |
| 🚶 Walking distance (via Dmytro Donskyi street) |
240 m |
| 🕒 Approximate time |
3 minutes |
| ⬆ Rise |
Mostly without ups and downs |
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Historian, publicist, blogger, public figure
Author of the article: Viktor Shatrov
Number of articles: 1100+
Knowledge of languages:: Ukrainian, English
Favourite quote: “Travelling – the only thing that makes you richer“
He was born and lived all his life in Uzhhorod. He graduated with a gold medal from Uzhhorod School No. 1 named after Taras Shevchenko (now Uzhhorod Lyceum named after Taras Shevchenko). He studied at the History Department of UzhNU, graduating with honours in 2009. He worked as a senior researcher at the Transcarpathian Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, a lecturer at the East European Slavic University.
