New Statues For Sister Cities
As the story of the lost memorial grew in Virginia Beach, community interest spread across the ocean to Moss. A drive began at both ends to replace the memorial. With a substantial contribution of the Norwegian Shipping Association, enough funds were raised to pay for not just a replacement for Virginia Beach, but two new statues.
Norwegian sculptor Ørnulf Bast was commissioned to create two nine-foot bronze replicas of the original figurehead. The Norwegian Lady statues were unveiled on September 22, 1962. One was presented as a gift to Virginia Beach, and an exact duplicate was erected in Moss, Norway to unite the two cities. Each statue gives the appearance of facing the other across the Atlantic Ocean (but in reality, the directions of their respective gazes are almost perpendicular to each other).
Moss and Virginia Beach officially became sister cities in 1974. Every year on the anniversary of the wreck, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Virginia Beach Volunteer Fire Department places a wreath at the base of the statue there. On October 13, 1995, during a state visit, Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway visited the Norwegian Lady statue in Virginia Beach, and placed memorial flowers.
The statue in Moss receives similar honors. Virginia Beach officials have traveled to Moss, and paid similar respects to the "other" Norwegian Lady.
On the pedestal of the Virginia Beach statue, these words are inscribed:
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- "I am the Norwegian Lady. I stand here, as my sister before me, to wish all men of the sea safe return home."
Read more about this topic: Norwegian Lady Statues
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