The Richard Morawetz commemorative plaque for the Úpice Museum was neither cast nor engraved. It was formed over seven days in an electroplating bath. We used electroforming technology, which was discovered in 1836—five years before Richard’s father, Ludwig Morawetz, was born. We combined it with modern methods such as programming, artificial intelligence, and 3D printing.
And how exactly did the production of such a copper commemorative plaque take place here at our company, Electroforming s.r.o., in Nové Město nad Metují? It all began with a text proposal for the commemorative plaque from the J. W. Mezerová Municipal Museum and Gallery in Úpice, based on which we designed the graphic layout for the plaque. This is where modern technology came into play: we used our own software and artificial intelligence to convert the plaque’s graphic design into 3D printing data measuring 280 x 170 mm. However, it wasn’t the plaque itself that was printed, but rather its negative—a mold into which copper was later cast.
The mold was printed from plastic. However, a plastic mold would not conduct electricity, so we coated it with an electrically conductive layer of graphite. We then immersed it in the electrolyte of an electrolytic copper plating bath and used electrolysis to deposit a 4 mm-thick layer of pure copper onto it over the course of a week. You can think of this process as similar to how coral grows in the ocean, layer by layer. In a similar way, the copper grew onto the plastic mold of the plaque. Once the copper had grown to the desired thickness, we removed the plated mold from the bath and stripped away the plastic. What remained was a solid copper plaque with a perfect three-dimensional imprint of the mold. Finally, all that remained was to clean up the details of the plate, patinate it, and install it on the “Stairs of Memory” in front of the Úpice Museum.
Using the same process, we also produced the individual metal letters for the “SCALA MEMORIAE” inscription on the museum stairs, as well as the “Ludwig Morawetz Playground” commemorative plaque, which will be unveiled in 2027.
We would like to thank the J. W. Mezerová Municipal Museum and Gallery, the city of Úpice, and the Technical Services Department of the City of Úpice for the opportunity to participate in this project commemorating Richard Morawetz and his family. We are delighted that our joint effort will serve as a lasting reminder of the life of this Úpice native for many years to come.
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