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A wooden figure raising funds for the needy since the 18th century

A wooden figure raising funds for the needy since the 18th century

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#Momentous events #Art connections
Nik Frost Nik Frost

Gubben Rosenbom, a well-known wooden figure in Karlskrona, Sweden, has been standing outside the Admiralty Church since the mid 18th century, serving as a poor box for charity donations.

In front of the Karlskrona Admiralty Church in Sweden, the popular wooden figure of Gubben Rosenbom (Old Man Rosenbom) has been standing since the mid 18th century. In 1956, the original was replaced by a copy and moved to a safer place inside the church.

The life-size figure is actually a poor box. If you lift its hat, you can insert a coin for the poor. The figure holds a placard in old-fashioned Swedish, humbly begging people to lift his hat and put in a penny, noting that blessed are those that care for the poor.

The figure of Rosenbom is particularly well-known because it is featured in Selma Lagerlöf's book The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. In the book, the title hero meets Rosenbom and speaks with him.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

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Written by Nik Frost

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