Poland’s €340,000 “patriotic benches” damaged by rain and vandals within days

One of the state-funded “patriotic benches” installed in each of Poland’s 16 provinces has been seriously damaged by rain 10 days after it was put in place. Another of the installations, which each cost 100,000 zloty (€21,250) was vandalised within two days.

The benches – contained within a white and red outline map of Poland on a blue base – have been beset by controversy and questions over their function and funding sources since they began to be installed in late August as part of a campaign to promote investment in Poland.

The wooden elements of one such construction in the city of Poznań were damaged by a downpour at the weekend, with paint washed away from the contours of the map.

Another bench, in Lublin, had already been damaged after just two days, reports Dziennik Wschodni. The chain preventing users from falling from the platform was only attached on one side, with two empty beer bottles left in front of the bench, suggesting a violation of the regulations for its use.

After earlier criticism of the installations, government spokesman Piotr Müller said they were not part of a campaign by the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, but had been funded by Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), a state-owned development bank, reports Wirtualna Polska.

The government had only supported “logistical issues concerning cooperation with provincial governors”, he explained.

The bank’s CEO, Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka, confirmed that it was behind the scheme, telling TOK FM they were in fact “not benches, but installations – a whole construction in which a bench is placed”.

“The aim of the installation is to promote Polish investments,” Daszyńska-Muzyczka added. “It is a kind of symbol, because you can sit down and get the signal: stay in Poland…I think such symbols are necessary.”

However, the installations are part of a larger government promotion campaign to which Morawiecki has designated an additional 5 million zloty from an urgent and unforeseen state expense fund, reports Wirtualna Polska. BGK also spent over 23 million zloty on the government’s #StopRussiaNow billboard campaign.

Opposition leader Donald Tusk was among those to criticise the benches, mockingly reading aloud the 15 rules pinned to the installations that users are supposed to familiarise themselves before climbing the steps to take a seat.

These stipulate a maximum of three users weighing up to 225 kg (496 lb), a minimum age of nine, and forbid jumping, drinking alcohol and smoking. Should a queue form, those wishing to use the bench must remain 1.5 metres away from it. Once on the bench, they must assume a sitting position and lean against the backrest.

“Despite war, inflation, the ongoing pandemic, a crisis in schools, the prime minister’s chancellery has launched a benches initiative,” Tusk noted, quoted by news website NaTemat.

He also mentioned another criticism that has been made of the benches: the blue base, combined with the red and white outline of Poland’s borders above it, has reminded some of the Russian flag rather than the Polish one. “It was supposed to be patriotic, and it came out PIS-style, Russian, seemingly funny, but actually terrible,” said Tusk.

Main image credit: Piotr Skornicki/AgencjaWyborcza.pl

Ben Koschalka

Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.