Čumil by Viktor Hulík, Bratislava, Slovakia
Čumil
man at work
Viktor Hulík · Korzo Party 1997 · Old Town
Photo: Bybbisch94, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
An Italian driver hit him in 1999, which is why Čumil has his own MAN AT WORK sign. City police took him away in 2013 and again in 2018, and both times he came back.
4 things to know
- Three incidents in two yearsThe worst came in 1999, when an inattentive Italian driver hit him. Pravda reported in 2007 that the driver knocked his head off. Bratislavské noviny · Pravda
- So he got a road signA red-bordered warning triangle with a drawing of Čumil and a “MAN AT WORK” plate stands beside him. Bratislavské noviny says the city put it up in 2000 and calls it half-serious. The sign itself was damaged and restored in 2011. City Gallery · Bratislavské noviny
- Taken in by the policeOn the morning of 21 July 2013 a city police patrol found him shifted and took him to the station on Medená Street, since vandals may have been after him. He was undamaged, and the district had him back in place by 23 July. TASR
- The water gets to himIn November 2018 city police found that someone had tampered with him and that his anchoring had corroded, and took him away. He was back on 5 December with new fasteners: his spot is often wet, so the bolts corrode. TASR · Dnes24
Check-in guide
- 📍
- In the street at Rybárska brána, where it meets Panská and Laurinská, in the Old Town (City Gallery). Visit Bratislava gives the address as Panská 251/1.
- 👀
- Outdoors at street level, so there are no opening hours.
- 🍀
- Visitors touch his cap for luck (Visit Bratislava), and the top of it is visibly worn (Bratislavaden).
- 🚸
- Look up: the City Gallery counts the warning sign, about 3.3 m tall, as part of the work, stickers and all.
- 🎩
- Two more statues unveiled the same day are close by: Juraj Meliš’s Schöne Náci at Rybárska brána and his Napoleonic Soldier on Hlavné námestie (Bratislavské noviny).
Sightings
- 199726 Jul
Unveiled at the Korzo Party
- 1999Crash
Hit by an Italian driver
- 201321 Jul
Taken in by police; back by 23 Jul
- 2017Aug
Red #pamataj ribbon over his eyes
- 2018Nov
Removed: corroded anchoring
- 20185 Dec
Back with new fasteners
- 202625 Jan
Hundreds stop by daily
Every stamp links to the dated source.
On the record
Čumí pod sukne už desať rokov
“Čumilovi pred ôsmimi rokmi taliansky šofér odrazil hlavu. Odvtedy ho chráni dopravná značka s nápisom Man At Work.”
“Eight years ago an Italian driver knocked Čumil’s head off. Since then a traffic sign reading Man At Work has protected him.”
Bratislavský Čumil sa dnes dožíva 10 rokov
“Aj preto mesto v roku 2000 osadilo pri Čumilovi polovážnu dopravnú značku s textom: ‘Pozor, na ceste sa pracuje!’ (Man at Work!)”
“That is also why, in 2000, the city put a half-serious traffic sign next to Čumil, reading ‘Caution, work on the road!’ (Man at Work!)” The sentence before names the cause: an inattentive Italian driver, in 1999.
Čumil sa vrátil do centra mesta, zrejme ho chceli poškodiť vandali
“Nie je vylúčené, že ju chceli poškodiť neznámi vandali … mestská časť ju už znovu umiestnila na pôvodné miesto”
“It cannot be ruled out that unknown vandals wanted to damage it … the district has already put it back in its original place.” The first sentence is Old Town spokesman Tomáš Halán’s.
Zakryté oči sôch majú upozorniť na novelu zákona o ÚPN
“…napoleonského vojaka či Čumila majú v týchto dňoch oči prekryté červenou stuhou s nápisom #pamataj”
“…the Napoleonic soldier and Čumil have their eyes covered these days with a red ribbon reading #pamataj” (‘remember’). A civic initiative of young people and students, protesting a planned change to the law on the Nation’s Memory Institute.
Legendárnu sochu Čumila dočasne demontovali, niekto s ňou manipuloval
“Aby sa predišlo škodám, socha sa dočasne demontovala a urobí sa pravidelná údržba jej ukotvenia.”
“To prevent damage, the statue has been temporarily dismantled, and its anchoring will get regular maintenance.” Old Town spokeswoman Nora Gubková.
The facts
- Artist
- Viktor Hulík, painter, born in Bratislava in 1949, known mainly for geometric work (Geometric MADI Museum) Checked
- Title
- Čumil; the City Gallery’s English title is Rubbernecker Checked
- Who he is
- Nobody in particular: an anonymous onlooker Hulík invented, remembering the Korzo promenade of his teens. The “helmet” is a rolled cap with a pompom (City Gallery; Bratislavské noviny) Checked
- Unveiled
- 26 July 1997, at the Korzo Party for the renovated Old Town pedestrian zone Checked
- Commission
- The Old Town (Staré Mesto) district, then led by mayor Andrej Ďurkovský (Bratislavské noviny). The district still owns and looks after it Checked
- Place
- Rybárska brána, at the corner of Panská and Laurinská streets, Old Town, Bratislava Checked
- Material, size
- Bronze, cast iron, concrete and galvanised steel sheet. The figure is 82 cm wide and 36 cm high; the sign is about 3.3 m tall Checked
- Crash, sign
- 1999: an inattentive Italian driver; Pravda says he knocked the head off. The sign went up in 2000, says Bratislavské noviny; the City Gallery says only that it came “following” the crash Reported
- Status
- Standing. Latest dated report: 25 January 2026 (Bratislavaden). Latest dated photo: 3 April 2025 (Kim Benson, Flickr, camera date). City Gallery: “preserved” as of 15 June 2023 Reported
Help us finish this file
- What the other two incidents of 1997–1999 were. Only the 1999 crash is described; Bratislavské noviny (2019) says the collisions were most often delivery vehicles whose drivers didn’t see him, for example when reversing, but gives no dates.
- Whether his head came off once or more. Pravda describes one, in 1999; Atlas Obscura says “more than once”, and no Slovak source we read mentions a second.
- Which year the sign went up. Bratislavské noviny says 2000; the City Gallery says only that it followed the 1999 crash, and its record lists a “1999 – modification” without saying what it was.
- What the City Gallery’s “2013” and “2018” modifications were. They probably match the two removals, but the record doesn’t say.
- A dated 2026 photo of him in place. The latest we found was taken in April 2025.
Know one of these, or have a dated photo? Leave a comment below.
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: When Sculptures Come Alive (9 Photos vol. 2) (2026).
- Copies abroad: the City Gallery says the idea has been “copied” many times, especially in Russia, and Bratislavské noviny says Hulík protested copies made without his knowledge or consent. City Gallery · Bratislavské noviny
All sources (14)
Official record and guides
- Bratislava City Gallery (GMB), Umenie mesta: “Čumil (Rubbernecker)”. Research status 15 June 2023. Artist, date, commission, materials, size, location, damage history. In English.
- Visit Bratislava: “Rubberneck (Čumil)”. Undated. Address, the luck custom. In English.
- Atlas Obscura: “Cumil the Sewer Worker”, 3 June 2015. In English.
Slovak press
- Pravda (Andrej Barát): “Čumí pod sukne už desať rokov”, 26 July 2007. In Slovak.
- Bratislavské noviny: “Bratislavský Čumil sa dnes dožíva 10 rokov”, 26 July 2007. In Slovak. Archived copy.
- TASR (teraz.sk): “Čumil sa vrátil do centra mesta, zrejme ho chceli poškodiť vandali”, 23 July 2013. In Slovak.
- TASR (teraz.sk): “Zakryté oči sôch majú upozorniť na novelu zákona o ÚPN”, 18 August 2017. In Slovak. Archived copy.
- TASR (teraz.sk): “Legendárnu sochu Čumila dočasne demontovali, niekto s ňou manipuloval”, 26 November 2018. In Slovak. Archived copy.
- Dnes24: “Čumil sa vrátil! Obľúbená socha môže opäť ‘pózovať’ na fotografiách turistov”, 5 December 2018. In Slovak.
- Bratislavské noviny: “Neuveríte, aké smiešne historky sa dozvedajú zahraniční turisti o Čumilovi!”, 28 May 2019. In Slovak.
- Bratislavaden (SITA): “Čumil v centre Bratislavy púta pozornosť už takmer 30 rokov. Viete, prečo ju autor vytvoril a kto to vlastne je?”, 25 January 2026. In Slovak.
Artist
- Geometric MADI Museum: artist page, Viktor Hulík. Born in Bratislava in 1949; studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, 1968–1974. In English.
Photos
- Wikimedia Commons: Bybbisch94, “20231226.Bratislava,Cumil.-02.jpg”, taken 26 December 2023 (camera date), CC BY 4.0. The photo at the top of this page.
- Flickr: Kim Benson, “Čumil”, taken 3 April 2025 (camera date), all rights reserved.
Artwork File · Last checked 29 September 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files