Just the other day I saw pictures of my good friend Ron and his wife Nadine visiting the Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley, California and it reminded me that Wrocław too has a small Reagan tribute.
While no one knows exactly the extent of Reagan’s contribution to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fact remains that Ronald Reagan along with Pope John Paul the 2nd brought the entire world’s recognition to the people of Poland in their fight against the Soviet Union and its communist regime. Reagan himself was a strong supporter of Lech Wałęsa and his Solidarity workers union. Some argue that the Soviet Union would have collapsed no matter who’d be in charge at the time, but Reagan’s strong stance on the issues regarding the Cold War can’t be ignored.
The Ronald Reagan Roundabout, or ‘rondo Reagana’ in Polish, is one of Wrocław’s main transfer hubs between the city’s major tram and bus lines located just in front of the Grunwaldzki Center and the Grunwaldzi Shopping Mall. The hub itself is a very nice looking bus/tram station with digital clocks counting down the arrival of next bus/tram and underground passages to walk through to avoid getting hit by anything. The underground passage also leads directly to the shopping mall, and right before the door there’s a sculpture dedicated to Ronald Reagan.
It’s pretty dark in the hall and with the sculpture lit up with flickering lights it’s difficult to get a good shot there, but below is my attempt at a few photos. The sign above says it all “To Ronald Reagan, for his struggle against totalitarianism, people of Wrocław”. The photo of the transfer hub was found on the internet.
The Polish Magician 