Cultural Influences
Tradition has it that she is buried in the large Wanda Mound (Polish: Kopiec Wandy). A custom observed up to the 19th century was that at Pentecost bonfires were lit on this mound, located on the outskirts of Kraków in Nowa Huta, the industrial district established in 1949. Nowa Huta construction begun on the nameday of Wanda (23 June), and she is a semi-official patron of that district, which has a trade center, street, bridge and stadium bearing her name.
The German poet Zacharias Werner wrote a drama named Wanda, which under Werner's friend Goethe was performed on stage in 1809.
In Polish literature, the story of Wanda has served as inspiration of several works, often stressing the themes of Polish independence and victorious conflict with Germany.
The Polish poet C.K. Norwid visited the Mound in 1840. He subsequently composed the narrative poem Wanda in honor of the ancient princess.
The Croatian dramatist Matija Ban made Wanda the symbol of Poland in his 1868 play, Wanda, the Polish Queen.
Antonín Dvořák composed the fifth of his 11 operas, the tragedy Vanda around this episode in Polish history legends. Writing in 1875, he cast the story as a struggle between the pagan Slavs and the Christian Germans.
In 1890, a statue designed by the Polish artist Jan Matejko depicting an eagle turning to the west was mounted on top of the mound. On the base of the statue the inscription WANDA was carved, together with two swords and a distaff.
Scholars Albina Kruszewska and Marion Coleman described Queen Wanda as having "the pure white chastity of Elaine, the filial devotion of Cordelia, and the iron will of Boadicea."
Read more about this topic: Princess Wanda
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