Who Is the Child on Brașov’s Black Church? The Legend Behind the Small Statue

A tiny figure perched high on Brașov’s Black Church has become one of the monument’s best-known mysteries. The statue shows a child leaning over the edge of a buttress, a detail that visitors can barely see from street level.

No one knows with certainty who the child represents or why the statue was placed there. The original sculpture now stands inside the Black Church, alongside other original works removed from the exterior for protection. The replica outside was made in 1980 by Saxon sculptor Kurtfritz Handel, who used the young Steffen Schlandt as his model, according to official sources.

The most widely repeated legend tells of a highly skilled apprentice working on the church. His master allegedly grew jealous as the boy’s talent developed and feared that he might eventually surpass him. The master supposedly pushed the apprentice from the building’s edge, killing him. According to the story, the small statue commemorated the apprentice after the master realized too late how much he had admired him.

A version recorded in local tradition says the master confessed, and the apprentice’s fellow workers decided to preserve his memory in stone. Friedrich Müller recorded this version in a collection of legends and stories from the Burzenland, published in 1857.

Another legend says the child belonged to one of the construction workers. He allegedly visited his father at the site, climbed onto the roof and fell while looking over the edge. His grieving father then commissioned a sculpture showing the position in which he last saw his son. Both stories explain the same image, but no documents confirm either account. Representatives of the Black Church have said the statue’s origins remain unresolved.