Peace Monuments Made from Old Weapons

Click here for peace monuments depicting "Swords Into Plowshares" (Isaiah 2:4 & Micah 4:3).

N.B.: Throughout history, bells and cannons have had a special relationship. They are made from the same metals and often made in the same factory. Bells are usually made during times of peace and cannons during wartime. Both Asian and Western nations have melted down bells to make cannons. In times of peace, the melting down of surplus cannons to make bells is a powerful symbol of peace, even if the resulting bell is not actually named a "peace bell." Only a few examples are shown below. There are probably many more examples not identified as such on the internet.

Right click image to enlarge.

1878 - "Charrue de la Paix" / "Plow of Peace," Salle de l'Alabama / Hall of the Alabama, Hotel de Ville / City Hall, Geneva (Switzerland). Offerte à la Ville et au peuple de Genève après avoir figuré comme symbole de paix à l'exposition de Paris en 1878. Elle fut confectionnée avec les sabres que des officiers américains avaient cédés lors d'un congrès pour la paix tenu en 1872 à Philadelphie par l' "Universal Peace Union". La cloche est une réplique miniature de la "Liberty Bell" de Philadelphie. Elle sonna l'ouverture de la première assemblée de la Société des Nations le 15 novembre 1920."

S T A T U E

March 13, 1904 - Cristo Redentor de los Andes / Christ of the Andes, Uspallata Pass, Andes Mountains (Argentina/Chile). Celebrates the Peace of King Edward VII [1841-1910] of England. The statue was cast from melted military armaments, and hauled thirteen thousand feet to the top of the mountain by the armies of both nations. The monument was on the cover of Time Magazine, December 17, 1928.

1924 - "Maria Dolens" / "Grieving Virgin Mary", Miravalle Hill, Rovereto, Trento (Italy). Largest bell outside Russia and East Asia, and the largest sounding bell in the world. Built under the inspiration of a local priest from bronze obtained by fusing cannons used by all the armies which fought in World War I. The International University of Peoples’ Institutions for Peace (IUPIP) was established in 1993 in Rovereto by the Fondazione Opera Campana dei Caduti / Peace Bell Foundation. Two different bells, or changed mounting?

B E L L

1951 - "The Pummerin," North Tower, Stephansdom / St. Stephen's Cathedral, Wien/Vienna (Austria). "By the Turks guns originating from material and its casting in the early days of the Second Republic, it is also a symbol of peace, freedom and the country as a gift from the province of Upper Austria for the St. Stephen's Cathedral was destroyed in World War II as a symbol of the reconstruction [Google translation]." Called "The Voice of Austria." At 21,383 kg, the third largest bell in Western & Central Europe, after St. Petersglocke in Cologne Cathedral (24.000 kg) and Maria Dolens (qv) in Rovereto, Italy (23.000 kg).

Date? - Monumento "La Destruccion de las Armas," Parque la Paz / Peace Park, San Jose (Costa Rica). "Peace Park monument is surrounded with broken weapons. Costa Rica abolished their army in 1948."

1990 - Parque de la Paz / Peace Park, Plaza de la Paz / Peace Square, downtown Managua (Nicaragua). Commemorates the end of the Contra Conflict [1979-1990]. "The fierce weapon-buying campaign of President Violeta Chamorro (who became president on on April 25, 1990) eradicated the threat of persisting violence." "Basically, a huge hole was dug in the ground and then filled with guns and cement, part of the park sculpted into a lighthouse and an abstract modern structure of squares, while the other part of the park is really rough and crude, and looks as if they poured a bunch of concrete on the edge of a small hill and then started jamming r rifles into the quickly setting concrete." The park now suffers from neglect, homelessness, and valdalism. Lower left image shows cement-covered AK-47's.

Date? - Monumento de la Paz / Peace Monument, Parque de la Paz / Peace Park, Plaza de la Paz / Peace Square, downtown Managua (Nicaragua). "Concrete encased tank left over from the Contra War [of the late 1980's]."

1994 - "Urban Peace Circle," Sam Smith Park, Seatle, Washington (USA). Dedicated to children killed by gun violence in Seattle’s inner city. "Culmination of a gun buy-back program instituted by Stop The Violence, an organization founded in 1992 in response to the tragic deaths of six youths from the Puget Sound area. Meant to contrast the chaos and violence of the present with hope for a peaceful future. To underscore the gravity of this message, several of the reclaimed guns were entombed in the concrete base of the sculpture. Created by Seattle artist Gerard Tsutakawa. Over 10 feet tall & 5 feet wide. Jagged sides characterizing chaos and hostility give way to a smooth circular aperture meant to provide viewers with a symbolic view beyond the violence to friendship and understanding."

1995 - Tour de la Paix / Peace Tower, Beirut (Lebanon). Concrete tower embedding old guns and tanks. "Accumulation de chars et de canons dans du béton, 32 m de haut et d'un poids de 6 000 tonnes. La plus grande sculpture faite par Arman [1928-2005] à ce jour. Une des plus grandes sculptures contemporaines dans le monde."

1996 - "A Landmark for Peace," MLK Park, one block west of 17th Street & College Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana (USA). Marks the spot where presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy [1926-1968] announced on April 4, 1968, to a large, mostly Black audience that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [1929-1968] had just been assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. (Kennedy was assassinated on June 6, 1968.) Designed by Indiana artist Greg Perry, the monument includes busts of King & Kennedy sculpted by controversial artist Daniel Edwards from handguns melted down after a police buy back program. Click here for a description by Rev. Chris Buice of Knoxville, Tennessee, including text of Kennedy's speech which helped prevent race riots as occured in at least 110 other US cities. Click here for a 2009 video about the event and monument. Click here for air view of the park & monument. A plaque credits Diane Meyer Simon and various Simon family interests as major contributors. The plaque also says that the monument is "Dedicated to the memory of Larry Conrad" but says nothing about Conrad (a local lawyer and Democratic politician who died in 1990). Visited by EWL 08Aug09.

November 1996 - "Phoenix Rising," Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA). "On Thursday, Minneapolis sculptor Karen Sontag-Sattel will install a 4,000-pound, 10-foot image of 'Phoenix Rising' on the public service level of the Hennepin County Government Center. A major section of the sculpture was cast with steel from handguns purchased during the county's 1992 'Drop Your Guns' program."

S C U L P T

1997 - Guns to Plowshares, Judiciary Square Metro Stattion, Washington, DC (USA). Sculpture by Esther & Michael Augsburger: 20-foot plowshare with 3,000 welded handguns donated by the Metropolitan Police. Entry #1111 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

S C U L P T

Date? - Unnamed peace sculpture, across from the Cinematek Theater, Derech Hebron, Jerusalem (Israel). Base is made of machine guns & mortars beat into plowshears. Inscribed in Hebrew & Arabic from Isaiah Chapter 2 Verse 4: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. And they shall beat their swords into plowshears and their spears into pruning hooks."

F I N S

May 30, 1998 - "The Fin Project: From Swords Into Plowshares," Magnuson Park, Sand Point, Seattle, Washington (USA). 22 submarine fins. Two monuments in different cities (Seattle & Miami, Florida) made from the surplus fins of nuclear attack submarines by sculptor John T. Young. Entry #1053 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

F I N S

September 2002 - "The Fin Project: From Swords Into Plowshares," Pelican Harbor, North Bay Village, Miami, Florida (USA). Made from 24 surplus fins of nuclear attack submarines by scupltor John T. Young. Similar monument in Seattle, Washington.

B E L L

1999 - Bell of Peace, International Centre of Culture (The Pyramid), Boulevard Deshmoret e Kombit, Tirana (Albania). "Made as a memorial to peace by the children of Shkodra. Its metal comes from thousands of bullet cartridges, fired off during the lawless 1990's." "Originally the mausoleum for Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha [1908-1985], the Pyramid has seen the eviction of Hoxha's corporeal remains and the burgeoning of Albania's interest in the culture and arts."

B E L L

Date? - Friedensglocke / Peace Bell, Rathaus, Dessau (Germany). Ein Denkmal für die politische Wende 1989 in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Sie wurde aus den Waffen der Kampfgruppen gegossen." The Peace Bell is a monument to the political changes of 1989. Made from 1250 assault rifles, 174 light machine guns, 87 anti-tank rifles and 171 pistols in an iron foundry Dessauer molten steel arms of the battle groups of the GDR, with the help of donations means that 4.2 t heavy cast bell.

January 15, 2000 - Peace Bell, Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Building (west entrance), 2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, California (USA). Cast from melted guns for the 50th anniversary of the UN Charter (signed in the War Memorial Building in nearby San Francisco) by Bruce Hasson, founder of the "Bell Project" which promotes world peace by using melted-down firearms to cast bells which incorporate images of nonviolence and environmental concerns. Rung at the War Memorial Building by Attorney General Janet Reno.

2000 - Monument de la Paix / Peace Monument, Timbuktu (Mali). Steps to the monument are covered with welded small arms laid down by warring factions. Also called Flamme de la Paix.

2001 - Throne of Weapons, Maputo (Mozambique). By Cristovao (Kester) Estevao. "Bought by the British Museum from the 2002 Christian Aid exhibition ‘Swords into Ploughshares.’ It has travelled the length and breadth of the UK this year, being displayed in schools, churches, youth centres and a prison, as well as in museums, to represent Africa in 2005 as a symbol of a positive, forward-looking future." Click here for a PDF description of the chair from the British Museum.

July 4, 2002 - Phoenix Peace Fountain, Coleraine, County Londonderry (Northern Ireland). Gift from "the communities of the USA to the communities of Northern Ireland,...celebrates 'Northern Ireland rising from the ashes of past violence...' In the form of Giant's Causeway stones... Above these sits the phoenix bird arising from the flames... Within are the melted down thousands of guns which were collected from across America between March 2001 and February 2002. Some of the outlines of these firearms are still to be seen within the 'Nest' of the bird and also at the base of the pool." Contributors mainly from northern Ohio. Project led by Dr. Michael J. Whitely of Kent State University & Inspirational Media International, Inc. (IMI).

October? 2004 - "Bird of Peace," Sanderson Park, Phnom Penh (Cambodia). Commissioned by Australian Embassy. Made out of old guns and weapons that had been used by the Khmer Rouge.

2005 - "Release the Fear," Phoenix, Arizona (USA). "Pedestrians and drivers on Central Ave. and East Roosevelt St. no doubt experience a chill when they first notice the pile of pistols, knives, rifles and other deadly weapons at the base of an otherwise merry stylized figure bursting out of the pavement. Upon closer inspection, it's obvious the weapons are safely fused to the base of the sculpture. 'Release the Fear' was erected in this tiny public park in 2005 by Phoenix artist Robert John Miley. It's composed of 8 1/2 tons of metal, of which 8,000 lbs. is from 'weapons used in violent acts collected throughout Arizona,' according to the inscription."

Date? - Monumento à Paz / Peace Monument, Praça do Imigrante / Immigrant Square, Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). "Also called Monument to Disarmament. Was made from a disarmament campaign in the city, where several segments joined to a manifesto against violence. The memorial is a large bird taking the weapons away. By artist Marciano Schmitz."

September 27, 2007 - "World of Peace," Kompong Thom (Cambodia). "Depicts three catfish with a globe balancing on the nose of the highest leaping fish." Made out of old guns and weapons that had been used by the Khmer Rouge.

October 9, 2007 - "Naga for Peace & Development," Batambang (Cambodia). "I followed the river down to a large square surrounding a large metal sculpture of (you guessed it) Naga. As I approached the statue, it began to look a little bizarre, as if crafted from many small pieces. It turns out that the large statue is made out of old guns and weapons that had been used by the Khmer Rouge."

After 2007 - "Monument to Disarmament & Life," Parque Tercer Milenio / Third Millennium Park, Bogota (Columbia). Across from the Institute of Forensic Medicine. "The 5,682 firearms collected during 14 days of disarmament between 1996 and 2007 are now [fused in] the base of a monument."

July 15, 2009 - Peace Monument, Kampala & Juba Road, Gulu (Uganda). To commemorate education’s importance in ensuring peace, The Dutch Embassy commissioned a sculpture conisting of three destroyed guns at the feet of a girl and boy reading a pile of text books. After speaking at length about education’s role in a post-conflict environment, the Dutch Ambassador, Jeroen Verheul, celebrated the sculpture’s unveiling by hosting a lunch for local community leaders. The books, Verheul noted, portrayed education as a pillar of knowledge, an instrument of reconciliation and a basis for moral building.

D O V E

December 24, 2011 - Unhate Dove, University of Tripoli, Tripoli (Libyas). "Following on from the launch of its Unhate Project in November, Benetton has unveiled its first monument to peace through Colors Magazine. The publication donated the large dove sculpture to the Libyan capital on Saturday, which marked the country's first Independence Day in 42 years. Made by Fabrica, the Unhate Dove art installation is composed of over 15,000 spent shell cartridges picked up in the world’s 'hot spots' & symbolises newfound peace in the region. 'The official handing-over of the dove is the UNHATE Foundation’s first act, both concrete and symbolic,' said Alessandro Benetton, Benetton Group’s executive deputy chairman, on behalf of the Foundation."

Future - Peace & Love Tower, downtown Manhattan, New York City, New York (USA). UnGun.org has been collecting guns for over 3 years, and the main structure will be supported by 5,000,000 guns that have been donated to the cause. The structure will feature a top heavy design and the walls will act as one large greenhouse. Choski and Associates won the contract to build the structure in 2006.