A man was caught on camera stripping down to his underwear and diving into a historical foundation in the Polish city of Gorzów Wielkopolski. He then proceeded to high-five a statue and “surf” on a sculpture of a turtle before police intervened and issued him with a fine.
The incident took place at the weekend, when Poland experienced temperatures that reached 35°C in some places.
In a film released by police, the 39-year-old man is seen frolicking in the water and at one stage unsuccessfully trying to remove a boat that is part of the decoration of the Paucksch Fountain, which was originally built in 1896.
It was named after Hermann Paucksch, a local businessman, who funded the construction of the fountain on the city’s market square. It is seen as a symbol of Gorzów Wielkopolski, a city of 120,000 in western Poland (and which before 1945 was known as Landsberg and was part of Germany).
The original fountain was, however, dismantled by the Germans during the Second World War and its metal melted down for the war effort. For decades, an empty plinth remained until a faithful replica of the original was installed in the 1990s.
In the film, the man is seen posing for photos while standing on a turtle that is part of the fountain before quickly getting dressed after police arrive, with officers then issuing him with a fine.
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The incident is not the only drama seen by the Paucksch Fountain in recent years. In 2022, a drunk 23-year-old man was apprehended by police after he was seen on CCTV climbing the fountain and placing an electric scooter on top of it.
Earlier the same year, a teenage girl was apprehended by police after damaging the foundation while posing for a photo and snapping off a fishing rod held by one of the statues.
All image and video credits: KMP w Gorzowie Wielkopolskim
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
