A small orchestra of musicians “plays” at the corner of Florianska and Kropotovskaya streets in Warsaw. This is a monument to the orchestra, its official name is a monument to the Prague street orchestra or the Prague group (in Polish – Kapela Praska). The name “Prague” is not from the Czech capital Prague, but from the Warsaw region.

The Monument to a street band were installed on September 17, 2006.

The initiator was the Archbishop of Warsaw Leszek Gladz Slavoy. The idea was to perpetuate the atmosphere of old Warsaw, when musicians walked the streets and performed popular songs. The monument was made in metal by sculptor Andrzej Renes.

The monument is interactive: if you send an SMS to 7141 with the text “BAND” or “KAPELA”, then one of 100 songs will actually sound from the hidden speakers. And you can listen to it by sitting down on one of the benches next to the musicians.

Looking at the “Prague Musicians”, I did not know that they had a prototype – a real orchestra consisting of real musicians: Czeslaw Jakubik – band leader (accordion), Pavel Poplavsky (violin), Richard Dolanovsky (guitar), Zbigniew Pogorzelski (drums ), Marek Hrushevsky (double bass).

After the appearance of the monument, Czeslaw Jakubik said: “We accept this monument as a tribute to the musicians in Warsaw, as a sign of brotherhood between all musical groups of folk music.”