The Freedom Monument in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

by sculptor Juozas Zikaras was unveiled in 1928 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the reestablishment of the independence of Lithuania. At that time Kaunas was the temporary capital of the state. The statue of the monument is also pictured on the obverse of the Independence Medal, also designed by Zikaras and issued in 1928.Algimantas Astikas, ''Lietuvos ordinai, medaliai ir ženkleliai 1918–1940'', Vilnius, 1993, p. 77 The statue was designed by Zikaras while he was a teacher at the

Panevėžys Gymnasium Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...

. According to the caretaker of the Čiurlionis Museum Rasa Ruibienė, Zikaras didn't have a workshop, so the director of the gymnasium, Jonas Yčas, former Minister of Education, allowed him to use a hall of the gymnasium. The reduced plaster copy of the statue was deposited at the

Vytautas the Great War Museum The Vytautas the Great War Museum ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo karo muziejus) is a museum in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was built in Art Deco and early functionalism style. Originally it was established in 1921 by Vladas Nagevičius but later it was deci ...

in Kaunas.J.Zikaro „Laisvė“ patyrė ir meilę, ir neapykantą
(retrieved July 19, 2015) Later the statue was cast in bronze in Germany, and inaugurated in its current location on the tenth anniversary of Lithuanian independence."Iškiliausias tautos simbolis - „Laisvės“ paminklas" (retrieved July 19, 2015)
/ref> The pedestal was designed by architect Vladimiras Dubeneckis."Laisvės Paminklas"
(retrieved July 19, 2015), citing ''Nukentėję paminklai'' eds. M. Skirmantienė, J. Varnauskas. - Vilnius : Mokslo ir encikl. l-kla, 1994. 52-54 p. In summer 1950, the monument was demolished by the orders of the Soviet government and the damaged statue was transferred to the History Museum. In 1966 sculptor Bronius Petrauskas restored the statue and it was stored in the Čiurlionis Museum. The monument was restored by architect Algimantas Sprindys and on February 16, 1989, restored to its original location. The total height of the monument is 12,35 m. The plaster copy, restored by Jonas Stanislovas Juodišius, is located in the White Hall of the Presidential Palace in Vilnius. In 2000, the statue is again pictured on the Litas commemorative coin for 10th anniversary of the second reestablishment of the independence of Lithuania.

References

{{Coord, 54, 53, 58.7, N, 23, 54, 40.6, E, region:LT_type:landmark, display=title Monuments and memorials in Lithuania Buildings and structures in Kaunas Objects listed in Lithuanian Registry of Cultural Property