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"Who knows what happened to Copernicus?": wrote KonkreetNieuws on July 9, 2021. The reason for this article in the Segbroek neighborhood magazine was the photo that amateur historian Theo Broekema had found in the archives. It showed a bust of the physician and mathematician and astronomer Nicolaas Copernicus (1473 - 1543). When the chic buildings on the new Copernicusplein were built in 1908, the owner (cigar merchant Felix) had this bust placed on the balcony of numbers 9 and 10. As an embellishment and as a tribute to this Polish scholar. Only the bust turned out to have disappeared...

KonkreetNews called on local residents to help solve this mystery. Leading up to the ^550thanniversary of Copernicus' birth in 2023, the Polish Embassy also participated. Summer 2023, a resident of the Copernicusstraat came forward: the bust was in his garden! Sometime after 1965 the then owner of the building on Copernicusplein turned out to have taken the bust with him when he moved to Capelle aan de IJssel. Years later he contacted the residents association of the Copernicusstraat. The bust was collected and temporarily placed in the chairman's house. The idea was to attach Copernicus to a facade again. That didn't happen and the bust ended up in the garden.

Once recovered, Aad van Schie (editor-in-chief of KonkreetNieuws) and Theo Broekema energetically started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for restoration, return and 10 years of future maintenance. Restorer and sculptor Paul van Laere was hired to do the job. In the past he has restored many outdoor artworks in The Hague and beyond.

Originally, the Copernicus bust was made of terracotta. Probably by H.F. Antheunis senior, from a family of ceramists and sculptors who were also active in The Hague. In an earlier restoration, the hollow core had been filled with plaster and other material and a layer of plaster had been applied over the sculpture. However, plaster cannot withstand moisture, and with changes in temperature, all these materials shrink differently. This creates cracks. Therefore, Van Laere first removed all the other materials. Then he did the necessary repairs with special restoration mortar. The loose nose is also back in place nicely.

On July 5, 2024, under the watchful eye of the neighborhood, the bust of Copernicus was again festively unveiled. Since then, the Polish scholar has been watching Copernicus Square from the balcony at 81 Edison Street. Just as he kept an eye on the planets for years to come to the conclusion that the sun did not revolve around the earth, but the other way around. A revolutionary thought in his own time!