Why are there so many geese in Krakow?
What is up with everyone buying and selling stuffed geese toys in Krakow? Is the city known for a famous goose?!
The short answer- no.
Sure, Krakow has pigeons, and Dzok the most loyal dog to live, and of course Smok the dragon, but this time the animal of choice in the souvenir stands has little to do with Krakow itself.
When they first started to appear it coincided with St. Martin’s Day- a holiday known for eating geese! It was a weird coincidence that many of us at first began to think about. Are they really selling geese because of St. Martin’s Day?
But then, upon closer inspection, it became quite clear who was buying ALL of these stuffed geese. Polish school children on school field trips.
Whether it was a coincidence that this season’s stuffed animal of choice sent from the Chinese souvenir factories also ended up being a trending animal on Polish youth’s TikTok accounts is something we’ll never know. Did the famous goose of Poland, named Pipa, start trending before or after the mass production of geese began?
@dekoratorwnetrzumyslu
A conspiracy theorist might believe that the Chinese run app, made sure the goose was seen by all, in order to increase the sales of the Chinese run souvenir fulfilling factories making the geese… but that seems like a stretch? Maybe….
Either way- to answer the question in the simplest of terms. No, Krakow is not known for geese. Krakow does not have a famous goose living here. But perhaps the popularity of these geese is due to the fact that people just like them. Or then again, maybe they just want their own Polish Pipa to hang out with.
One things for sure- as confusing as these geese have been for tourists- I’ll take a cute goose as our stuffed animal of the year, over last years tooth-filled-terror Huggy Muggy!
If you’re trying to buy a more authentic stuffed animal souvenir from Krakow, may we suggest a pigeon from one of the cloth hall stands; a dragon from any of the souvenir stands; or a more elegant piece from Galeria Bukowski.
I think you meant Smok Wawelski 🙂 Smok is translated to dragon.
Yes- but in the English translations of the legend they often give him the name “Smok” as opposed to calling him Wawel Dragon like it would be if it was translated directly.