Abstract
Hungary had been strongly interested in the Blansko artistic cast iron products since the mid 19th century. While it was clear from the very beginning that the Hentzi monument in Budapest would inevitably disappear because it was in 'enemy' territory, the busts of the favourite Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria (nicknamed Sisi) by the Austrian sculptor Victor Tilgner, have survived in several places in Hungary and Slovakia.
After the First World War, the export of the Blansko products to Hungary and Slovakia ceased and was not restored until after the Second World War, especially during the normalisation period, casting mostly monumental and ideology-themed statues made by politically reliable sculptors. The statues of communist representatives such as Lenin and Dimitrov were removed from their pedestals after the old regime collapsed in 1989.
During the new century, a restored statue of the politician M.R. Štefánik was cast in Blansko, symbolising the epoch of the common state of Czechs and Slovaks.