Lombard Lamp

It is called the Lombard Lamp because the city of Hamburg, Germany, presented this lamp to the city of Chicago as a goodwill gesture. This took place in 1979 when Michael Bilandic was mayor of Chicago. He decided to place it in the Lincoln Square neighborhood since it was a German neighborhood. This lamp is of Baroque style and is made of black cast iron and brass [similar to those on the Lombard Bridge in Hamburg]. The Lombard Lamp used to be located at Western and Lawrence [alongside the Lincoln Statue]. That is a much busier spot with lots of traffic; thus, it suffered from weather and auto emission damage. Thanks goodness, the Lincoln Square community restored the lamp. Then, in 1994, Mayor Daley and Mayor Voscherrat [Hamburg] signed a "sister cities agreement." The community of Lincoln Square celebrated this agreement by having the lamp moved to its present location in Giddings Plaza.