American Astronauts Monument

The American Astronauts Memorial (Pomnik Astronautów Amerykańskich) was a modernist sculpture in Kraków, Poland, placed at the Bronowianka sports club complex at 124A Zarzecze Street, within the district of Bronowice. Unveiled on 20 July 1969, on the day of the landing on the Moon by the Apollo 11 mission, it became the first monument in the world dedicated to its crew, consisting of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. It was designed by Danuta Nabel-Bochenek, and crafted by her together with Kazimierz Łaskawski. The monument caused controversies among members of both the Polish United Workers' Party and Communist Party of the Soviet Union over celebrating American success in the Space Race, and was removed and destroyed by the authorities in late October 1969.

Monument data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).