The IAH 2026 Congress's contribution to the Groundwater Torch

The groundwater sample added to the IAH Groundwater Torch during the IAH 2026 World Groundwater Congress was collected from the historic Városliget Well No. I (Széchenyi Well No. I) in Budapest’s City Park, near Heroes’ Square (Hősök tere).

Drilled by Vilmos Zsigmondy between 1868 and 1878, the well reached a depth of 970.48 metres and was, at the time, one of the deepest wells in the world.

The Torch will continue its journey, but here in Budapest, we also wanted to create something that would remain.

To honour the pioneering driller of the well, Vilmos Zsigmondy, the Hungarian National Chapter of the IAH and the József and Erzsébet Tóth Endowed Hydrogeology Chair and Foundation initiated the creation of a memorial. The renowned guerrilla sculptor Mihály Kolodko, known for his miniature statues found throughout Budapest, was commissioned to bring this idea to life.

The result is a Kolodko mini statue of Vilmos Zsigmondy, commemorating both one of the pioneers of Hungarian hydrogeology and the extraordinary groundwater and thermal-water heritage of Budapest.

The statue is not only a lasting memory of IAH 2026. We hope it will also help bring groundwater closer to the wider public, making the invisible more visible and carrying a simple message beyond our professional community: groundwater matters, and its protection is a shared responsibility.

While the Groundwater Torch travels on, a small part of the spirit and message of this Congress will remain here in Budapest.

Discover the story behind the Torch and the Zsigmondy mini statue in the video below.