In the popular Treptower Park, located in East Berlin, stands one of the most famous monuments in the world, preserving the memory of the Second World War. This is the statue of the Soldier-Liberator, which is the center of one of the three military memorials in the German capital, reminiscent of the victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War and the liberation of Europe from fascism.
History of the creation of the monument
The idea of creating a memorial arose immediately after the war. In 1946, the Military Council of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany announced a competition for the best design of a monument to the liberating soldiers. Out of 33 projects, the winner was the project developed by the architect Ya. B. Belopolsky and the sculptor E. V. Vuchetich. Interestingly, Vuchetich presented two sketches of the central monument. The first was supposed to depict Stalin with a globe in his hand, but the Generalissimo himself approved the second option. There is information that Stalin made another proposal - to replace the machine gun in the hands of a soldier with a sword. Of course, this adjustment was also accepted. At the same time, some historians claim that the idea with the sword belonged to the sculptor himself.
The plot of the monument was inspired by a real event. True, it is not known who exactly served as the prototype. Historians name two names - Nikolai Masalov, who carried a German girl out from under fire, and Trifon Lukyanovich, who repeated the same feat. Different people could pose for the sculptor. So, according to the memoirs of Colonel V.M. Gunazy, it was he who posed for Vuchetich in 1945, when he served in Austria. As stated in the memoirs of V.M. Gunaz, it was he who advised the sculptor to depict a girl in the soldier’s hands, and not a boy, as he had originally planned.
Already while working in Berlin, Private I.S. posed for Vuchetich. Odarchenko, whom the sculptor saw at the celebration of Athlete’s Day. Interestingly, Odarchenko also posed for the mosaic panel, which is located inside the pedestal of the monument. Author, artist A.A. Gorpenko depicted him on the panel twice. Subsequently, Odarchenko served in Berlin, including standing guard at the monument to the Soldier-Liberator. People repeatedly approached him and asked whether his striking resemblance to the monument was coincidental, but he never confessed.
The model for the girl’s figure was first Marlene, the daughter of the German architect Felix Krause, who helped Vuchetich. However, later they decided that she was not suitable in age, after which they settled on the candidacy of 3-year-old Svetlana, the daughter of the Soviet commandant of Berlin, Major General Kotikov.
The history of the sword is interesting. Vuchetich depicted not an abstract sword, but a completely concrete blade of the Prince of Novgorod and Pskov, Vsevolod, at the baptism of Gabriel (1095-1138), canonized in 1549.
Work on the huge monument was fraught with great difficulties. First, Vuchetich sculpted a sculpture from clay one-fifth of life-size, then plaster fragments were prepared for casting, which were sent to Leningrad, to the Monument-Sculpture plant. Already here the statue was embodied in bronze and transported in parts by sea to Berlin.
Initially, it was assumed that the monument would be cast in Germany, but German companies demanded at least six months. The Soviet authorities planned to open the monument for the 4th anniversary of the Victory, so the order was transferred to Leningrad. Leningrad foundry workers completed it in seven weeks. The monument was ready by the specified date, its opening took place on May 8, 1949.
Treptower Park Memorial
Currently, the monument to the Soldier-Liberator is the central element of the Treptow Park memorial complex, in which more than 7,000 Soviet soldiers who died during the storming of Berlin are buried. The monument represents the figure of a warrior holding a lowered sword in his right hand, and a German girl clinging to him in his left. A soldier tramples a cut Nazi swastika with his feet. The height of the monument is about 13 meters, weight – 72 tons. The work of the creators of the monument was highly appreciated - the creative team was awarded the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree.
The monument is installed on a granite pedestal, which in turn stands on a high embankment. A memorial hall was created inside the pedestal, the walls of which are decorated with mosaics depicting representatives of the peoples of the USSR laying flowers at the graves of the fallen. In the middle of the hall, on a black polished stone cube, there is a golden casket containing a book with the names of all those who died during the capture of Berlin. A very impressive chandelier with a diameter of 2.5 m under the dome of the hall, made of rubies and crystal in the form of the Order of Victory.
It is on these mosaics that Ivan Odarchenko, who posed for Vuchetich for the monument, is depicted twice.
The memorial ensemble of Treptow Park itself occupies an area of about 200 thousand square meters. m. Several tens of thousands of trees and shrubs were planted in it, and 5 kilometers of paths were laid, framed by a granite curb. In addition to the central monument, the park contains a sculpture carved from a granite monolith, “Motherland,” and in front of the Soldier-Liberator there is a memorial field with sarcophagi, mass graves, bowed banners made of red granite and two bronze statues of kneeling soldiers. And now, decades after the war, the memorial evokes a strong emotional response from numerous visitors.
It is interesting that the granite from which the memorial was built was taken by the Nazis from occupied Holland and was intended for the construction of the monument after the victory in the war with the USSR. In the end, the stone served exactly this purpose, only the winner turned out to be different. In total, the construction took about 40 thousand square meters. m. granite slabs.
The status of the memorial is secured by an agreement signed by the four victorious powers, Germany and the GDR. Under the terms of the agreement, the memorial has eternal status, and its safety is guaranteed by the German government. Repairs are also carried out at the expense of Germany. And the Germans strictly comply with their obligations. So, in 2003-2004. The Liberator Monument was dismantled and taken away for restoration financed by Germany.
It would be appropriate to mention the fate of Vuchetich’s prototype model. It was stored in Germany until 1964, when it was transported to Russia. Currently, the sculpture is installed in the Serpukhov memorial complex “Cathedral Mountain”.
1) I knew about Treptower Park since I was 10 years old, when my relative, a WWII veteran, then gave me a large book to read about the history of World War 2, in which already in the chapters about the final period of the Great Patriotic War there was talk about Berlin operation.
2) The park itself is located in the area of the S-Bahn line station of the same name, from where you can walk along Puschinalle (Pushkin Street) for about 1 km. In this area there were very often Russian-speaking citizens, locals or tourists, I can’t say. Apparently, this is due to the location of the Belarusian embassy nearby, which the Belarusians themselves are somewhat unhappy about, comparing it with the Russian embassy, located almost in the very center of Berlin, 200 meters from the Brandenburg Gate.
The Belarusian citizens themselves immediately blamed Alexander Lukashenko for this due to the fact that the Belarusian embassy is on the outskirts of the city, and the Russian one is in the center. 
3) Apparently, Russian-speaking tourists are often brought to the monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator. Interestingly, the Treptower Park area is located 3 km from the former border between West and East Berlin, which ran along the Landwehrkanal canal. As soon as you crossed one bridge over this canal, the ethnic picture instantly changed. Interesting point. Before the former border of the GDR and West Berlin, Russian-speaking people, after that they came from African countries and Turkey. A wonderful cross-cultural experience. 
4) And now to the monument itself. After the end of the GDR, the Treptower Park complex was abandoned. There were proposals to completely demolish all the slabs with I. Stalin’s statements, calling the monument itself the last monument in the world to Joseph Vissarionovich. 
5) More than 7,000 Soviet soldiers are buried on the territory of the memorial, erected to commemorate the defeat of National Socialism. During the Berlin operation and in the battles for Berlin from April 16 to May 2, more than 75,000 Soviet soldiers died. In 1946, the Soviet military administration decided to refurbish Soviet military burial grounds in Berlin. The location was chosen by the Soviet command and enshrined in order number 134. Along with the Tiergarten memorial already created in 1945, where the burial place of more than 2,000 Soviet soldiers was located, additional mass graves were planned for the fallen Red Army soldiers. 
6) On May 8, 1949, the largest Soviet military memorial outside the Soviet Union was inaugurated in Treptow. The significance of the memorial goes far beyond Berlin and Germany. In the central part of the park in a large meadow there is a figure of a Soviet soldier cutting a swastika with a sword, and with a rescued child on his arm, which is a world-famous symbol of the contribution of the Soviet Union to the defeat of National Socialism (authors: architect Yakov Belopolsky and sculptor Evgeniy Vuchetich). 
7) Granite from Hitler’s Reich Chancellery was used for construction. The monument is not an abstract monument, it is a monument to Sergeant Nikolai Masalov, who actually saved a German girl. 
8) It should be added that the sculptor Evgeniy Vuchetich is one of the creators of one of the tallest statues in the world, the sculptural composition “Motherland” on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. 
9) Monument “Warrior-Liberator” - Sculptor E. V. Vuchetich, architect Ya. B. Belopolsky, artist A. V. Gorpenko, engineer S. S. Valerius. Opened on May 8, 1949. Height - 12 meters. Weight - 70 tons.
Inside the pedestal there is a round memorial hall. The walls of the hall are decorated with mosaic panels (artist A. A. Gorpenko). The panel depicts representatives of different nations, including the peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia, laying wreaths on the grave of Soviet soldiers. Above their heads it is written in Russian and German: “Now everyone recognizes that the Soviet people, with their selfless struggle, saved the civilization of Europe from the fascist pogromists. This is the great merit of the Soviet people before the history of mankind” (quote from the report of J.V. Stalin on the 27th anniversary of the October Revolution. 
10) There are three versions of who exactly posed for the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich for the soldier’s monument. However, they do not contradict each other, since it is possible that at different times different people could pose for the sculptor.
- According to the memoirs of retired colonel Viktor Mikhailovich Gunaza, in 1945 in the Austrian city of Mariazell, where Soviet units were stationed, he posed for the young Vuchetich. Initially, according to the memoirs of V. M. Gunaza, Vuchetich planned to sculpt a soldier holding a boy in his hands, and it was Gunaza who advised him to replace the boy with a girl.
- According to other sources, for a year and a half in Berlin, Soviet army sergeant Ivan Stepanovich Odarchenko posed for the sculptor. Odarchenko also posed for the artist A. A. Gorpenko, who created a mosaic panel inside the pedestal of the monument. In this panel, Odarchenko is depicted twice - as a soldier with the sign of a Hero of the Soviet Union and a helmet in his hands, and also as a worker in blue overalls with his head bowed, holding a wreath. After demobilization, Ivan Odarchenko settled in Tambov and worked at a factory. He died in July 2013 at the age of 86.
- According to an interview with Rafail’s father, the son-in-law of the commandant of Berlin A.G. Kotikov, who refers to the unpublished memoirs of his father-in-law, the cook of the Soviet commandant’s office in Berlin posed as a soldier. Later, upon returning to Moscow, this cook became the head chef of the Prague restaurant.
Berlin is rightfully considered one of the greenest European capitals. Extensive recreational parks for city residents began to be laid out here back in the century before last, according to all the rules of gardening art and in accordance with the master plan for the development of the city. Perhaps the most famous of them is the Tiergarten, adjacent to the government quarter with the Reichstag in the central district of Berlin-Mitte. Tourists cannot pass or drive past the Tiergarten...
Around the same time (1876-1888), another large park was founded - in the Treptow area. Now its name in Germany, the republics of the former USSR, and other countries of the world is firmly associated with the memorial complex located here. It is dedicated to the Red Army soldiers who died in the battles for Berlin at the end of World War II. About seven thousand of them are buried in this park alone - out of more than 20 thousand Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of the city at the very end of the war.
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Memorial in Treptower Park
The memorial in Treptower Park was erected in 1947-1949. The main monument is installed on a hill with a mausoleum.
Memorial in Treptower Park
Soldiers' War Cemetery in Berlin
The liberating warrior with the rescued girl in his arms is the central monument of the memorial in Treptow Park.
Memorial in Treptower Park
Soldiers' War Cemetery in Berlin
Monumental mosaic in the mausoleum.
Memorial in Treptower Park
Soldiers' War Cemetery in Berlin
Bas-relief depicting the Order of the Patriotic War at the entrance to the memorial in Treptower Park.
Memorial in Treptower Park
Soldiers' War Cemetery in Berlin
Memorial field with mass graves, bowls for the eternal flame and two red granite banners.
Memorial in Treptower Park
Soldiers' War Cemetery in Berlin
Bas-relief with soldiers going on the attack on one of the sarcophagi.
Memorial in Treptower Park
Soldiers' War Cemetery in Berlin
"Everything for the front! Everything for victory!" - a bas-relief dedicated to supporting the army in the rear.
Memorial in Treptower Park
Soldiers' War Cemetery in Berlin
Quote from Stalin.
Memorial in Treptower Park
Soldiers' War Cemetery in Berlin
Sculpture of a grieving woman.
Memorial in Treptower Park
Soldiers' War Cemetery in Berlin
A kneeling soldier near a granite red banner.
It is convenient to get from the center of Berlin to the park by rail with one change - first by train S7 or S9 to Ostkreuz, and then by the ring line Ringbahn S41/42. Lines S8 and S9 also pass here. The stop is called Treptower Park. Travel time is about 20 minutes. Then it remains to walk a little, following the signs on the shady Pushkin Alley (Puschkinallee).
The Treptower Park War Memorial is the largest such monument outside the former Soviet Union and the most famous in the world, along with Mamayev Kurgan in Russia. A young soldier with a rescued German girl in his arms and a sword cutting a defeated swastika rises above the crowns of old trees on a burial mound.
In front of the bronze soldier there is a memorial field with other mass graves, sarcophagi, bowls for the eternal flame, two red granite banners, sculptures of kneeling soldiers - very young and older. The granite banners have inscriptions in two languages: “Eternal glory to the soldiers of the Soviet Army who gave their lives in the struggle for the liberation of mankind.” The sarcophagi themselves are empty; the soldiers are buried in the ground along the edges of the avenue of honor.
At the entrance, decorated with granite portals, visitors are greeted by the Motherland, grieving for her sons. She and the soldier-liberator are two symbolic poles that determine the dramaturgy of the entire memorial, which is framed by weeping birch trees, specially planted here as a reminder of Russian nature. And not only about nature.
In guidebooks and other descriptions of Treptow Park, all sorts of detailed parameters are certainly mentioned - the height and weight of the bronze statue, the number of segments of which it consists, the number of sarcophagi with bas-reliefs, the area of the park... But when you are on the spot, all this statistical accounting is of no use doesn't matter.
Versions are also retold about who exactly was the warrior who in April 1945, risking his life, saved a German girl. However, the author of the monument, sculptor and front-line soldier Yevgeny Vuchetich, emphasized that his soldier-liberator has a symbolic meaning, and does not talk about a specific episode. He emphasized this in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung in 1966.
The feat of Nikolai Masalov
The most common version is that the historical prototype for the monument was soldier Nikolai Masalov (1921-2001). A three-year-old girl cried next to her murdered mother in the ruins of Berlin. The Red Army soldiers heard her voice during a short lull between attacks on Hitler's Reich Chancellery. Masalov volunteered to pull her out of the shelling zone, asking her to cover him with fire. He saved the girl, but was wounded.
In 2003, a plaque was installed on the Potsdamer Bridge (Potsdamer Brücke) in Berlin in memory of the feat accomplished in this place.
Sowjetisches Ehrenmal im Treptower Park
Puschkinallee,
12435 Berlin
The story is based primarily on the memoirs of Marshal Vasily Chuikov. The very fact of Masalov’s feat has been confirmed, but during the GDR, eyewitness accounts were collected about other similar cases throughout Berlin. There were several dozen of them. Before the assault, many residents remained in the city. The National Socialists did not allow the civilian population to leave, intending to defend the capital of the “Third Reich” to the last.
Portrait likeness and historical quotations
The names of the soldiers who posed for Vuchetich after the war are precisely known: Ivan Odarchenko and Viktor Gunaz. Odarchenko served in the Berlin commandant's office. The sculptor noticed him during a sports competition. After the opening of the memorial, Odarchenko happened to be on duty near the monument, and many visitors, who did not suspect anything, were surprised by the obvious portrait resemblance. By the way, at the beginning of work on the sculpture he was holding a German girl in his arms, but then she was replaced by the little daughter of the commandant of Berlin, Major General Alexander Kotikov.
The sword that cuts the swastika is a copy of the sword that was owned by the first Pskov prince Vsevolod-Gabriel, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh. Vuchetich was offered to replace the sword with a more modern weapon - an assault rifle, but he insisted on his original version. They also say that some military leaders proposed placing not a soldier, but a giant figure of Stalin in the center of the memorial complex. This idea was abandoned, since it apparently did not find support from Stalin himself.
The “Supreme Commander-in-Chief” is reminded by his numerous quotes carved on symbolic sarcophagi in Russian and German. After the reunification of Germany, some German politicians demanded their removal, citing crimes committed during the Stalinist dictatorship, but the entire complex, according to interstate agreements, is under state protection. No changes are allowed here without the consent of Russia.
Reading quotes from Stalin these days evokes mixed feelings and emotions, making us remember and think about the fate of millions of people in both Germany and the former Soviet Union who died during Stalin’s times. But in this case, quotes should not be taken out of the general context; they are a document of history, necessary for its comprehension.
From granite of the Reich Chancellery
The memorial in Treptower Park was erected immediately after the end of World War II, in 1947-1949. The remains of soldiers temporarily buried in various city cemeteries were transferred here. The location was chosen by the Soviet command and enshrined in order number 134. Granite from Hitler's Reich Chancellery was used for construction.
Several dozen projects took part in the art competition, which was organized by the Soviet military command in Berlin. The winners were joint sketches by architect Yakov Belopolsky and sculptor Evgeniy Vuchetich.
60 German sculptors and 200 stonemasons were involved in the production of sculptural elements according to Vuchetich’s sketches, and a total of 1,200 workers participated in the construction of the memorial. They all received additional allowances and food. German workshops also produced bowls for the eternal flame and mosaics in the mausoleum under the sculpture of the liberating warrior. The main statue was cast in Leningrad and transported to Berlin by water.
In addition to the memorial in Treptower Park, monuments to Soviet soldiers were erected in two other places immediately after the war. About 2,000 fallen soldiers are buried in Tiergarten Park, located in central Berlin. In the Schönholzer Heide park in Berlin's Pankow district there are more than 13 thousand.
During the times of the GDR, the memorial complex in Treptower Park served as a venue for various kinds of official events and had the status of one of the most important state monuments. On August 31, 1994, a ceremonial roll call dedicated to the memory of the fallen and the withdrawal of Russian troops from a united Germany was attended by one thousand Russian and six hundred German soldiers, and the parade was hosted by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
The status of the monument and all Soviet military cemeteries is enshrined in a separate chapter of the treaty concluded between the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic and the victorious powers in World War II. According to this document, the memorial is guaranteed eternal status, and the German authorities are obliged to finance its maintenance and ensure its integrity and safety. Which is done in the best possible way.
See also:
Graves of Soviet prisoners of war and forced laborers
17 frames of spring
Between Düsseldorf and Bonn
DW has repeatedly written about a database that contains information about burial sites and memorials of Soviet citizens in Germany. A DW correspondent visited some of them - between Düsseldorf and Bonn, taking a camera and a dozen red roses along the way.
17 frames of spring
The day began near Düsseldorf, where the remains of one and a half thousand people who died here in the infirmary rest in the common cemetery. It was opened in 1940 for prisoners of war from different countries. The French were the first, and then Soviet soldiers began to arrive here - from forced labor in the surrounding labor camps. Address: Luckemeyerstraße, Düsseldorf.
17 frames of spring
Address: Mülheimer Straße 52, Leverkusen.
17 frames of spring
The next cemetery is a fraternal one. It is located in the Van Heath (Wahner Heide) near the Cologne/Bonn airport in the city of Rösrath.
17 frames of spring
Most of the 112 graves in the Van Heath are unmarked burials of Soviet soldiers. There are also several graves of Polish citizens and victims of National Socialism from other countries. They all died in the labor camp.
IN APRIL 1945, the advanced units of the Soviet troops reached Berlin. The city found itself surrounded by fire. The 220th Guards Rifle Regiment advanced along the right bank of the Spree River, moving from house to house towards the imperial office. Street fighting went on day and night.
An hour before the start of artillery preparation, Nikolai Masalov, accompanied by two assistants, brought the regiment’s banner to the Landwehr Canal. The guards knew that here, in Tiergarten, was the main bastion of the military garrison of the German capital. The fighters advanced to the attack line in small groups and individually. Some had to cross the canal by swimming using available means, others had to break through a barrage of fire through a mined bridge.
There were 50 minutes left before the attack began. There was silence - alarming and tense. Suddenly, through this ghostly silence, mixed with smoke and settling dust, a child's cry was heard. It came as if from somewhere underground, dull and inviting. The child, crying, uttered one word that everyone understood: “Mutter, mutter...”, because all children cry in the same language. Sergeant Masalov was the first to catch the child's voice. Leaving his assistants at the banner, he rose to almost his full height and ran straight to the headquarters - to the general.
- Let me save the child, I know where he is...
The general silently looked at the soldier who had appeared from nowhere.
- Just be sure to come back. “We must return, because this battle is the last,” the general warmly admonished him in a fatherly manner.
“I’ll be back,” said the guardsman and took the first step towards the canal.
The area in front of the bridge was under fire from machine guns and automatic cannons, not to mention the mines and land mines that densely littered all the approaches. Sergeant Masalov crawled, clinging to the asphalt, carefully passing the barely noticeable tubercles of mines, feeling every crack with his hands. Very close by, machine-gun bursts rushed past, knocking out rocky crumbs. Death from above, death from below - and there is nowhere to hide from it. Dodging the deadly lead, Nikolai dived into the shell crater, as if into the waters of his native Siberian Barandatka.
In Berlin, Nikolai Masalov saw enough of the suffering of German children. In clean suits, they approached the soldiers and silently held out an empty tin can or simply an emaciated palm. And Russian soldiers
they shoved bread, lumps of sugar into these little hands, or seated a thin group around their pots...
Nikolai Masalov approached the canal inch by inch. Here he was, holding the machine gun, already rolling towards the concrete parapet. Fiery lead streams immediately lashed out, but the soldier had already managed to slide under the bridge.
The former commissar of the 220th regiment of the 79th Guards Division, I. Paderin, recalls: “And our Nikolai Ivanovich disappeared. He enjoyed great authority in the regiment, and I was afraid of a spontaneous attack. And a spontaneous attack, as a rule, means extra blood, especially at the very end of the war. And Masalov seemed to sense our anxiety. Suddenly a voice says: “I’m with the child. Machine gun on the right, house with balconies, shut his throat.” And the regiment, without any command, opened such fierce fire that, in my opinion, I have never seen such tension in the entire war. Under the cover of this fire, Nikolai Ivanovich came out with the girl. He was wounded in the leg, but did not say..."
N.I. Masalov recalls: “Under the bridge I saw a three-year-old girl sitting next to her murdered mother. The baby had blond hair that was slightly curly at the forehead. She kept tugging at her mother’s belt and calling: “Mutter, mutter!” There is no time to think here. I grab the girl and back again. And how she will scream! As I walk, I persuade her this way and that: shut up, they say, otherwise you will open me. Here the Nazis really started firing. Thanks to our guys - they helped us out and opened fire with all guns."
Guns, mortars, machine guns, and carbines covered Masalov with heavy fire. The guardsmen targeted enemy firing points. The Russian soldier stood over the concrete parapet, shielding the German girl from bullets. At that moment, a dazzling disk of the sun rose above the roof of the house with columns, scarred by fragments. Its rays hit the enemy shore, blinding the shooters for some time. At the same time, the cannons struck and artillery preparation began. It seemed that the entire front was saluting the feat of the Russian soldier, his humanity, which he did not lose on the roads of war.
N.I. Masalov recalls: “I crossed the neutral zone. I look into one or another entrance of the houses - so that, that means, hand over the child to the Germans, civilians. And it’s empty there—not a soul. Then I'll go straight to my headquarters. The comrades surrounded, laughing: “Show me what kind of “tongue you got.” And some of the biscuits themselves, some of them shove sugar into the girl, calm her down. He handed her over to the captain in a raincoat thrown over him, who gave her water from a flask. And then I returned to the banner."
A few days later, the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich arrived at the regiment and immediately found Masalov. Having made several sketches, he said goodbye, and it is unlikely that Nikolai Ivanovich at that moment had any idea why the artist needed him. It was no coincidence that Vuchetich drew attention to the Siberian warrior. The sculptor carried out an assignment from a front-line newspaper, looking for a type for a poster dedicated to the Victory of the Soviet people in the Patriotic War. These sketches and sketches were useful to Vuchetich later, when he began work on the project of the famous monument ensemble. After the Potsdam Conference, the heads of the Allied Powers Vuchetich was summoned by Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov and proposed to begin preparing a sculptural ensemble-monument dedicated to the Victory of the Soviet people over Nazi Germany. It was originally intended to be placed in the center of the composition
a majestic bronze figure of Stalin with an image of Europe or a globe hemisphere in his hands.
Sculptor E.V. Vuchetich: “The main figure of the ensemble was looked at by artists and sculptors. They praised and admired. But I felt dissatisfied. We need to look for another solution.
And then I remembered the Soviet soldiers who, during the storming of Berlin, carried German children out of the fire zone. He rushed to Berlin, visited Soviet soldiers, met with heroes, made sketches and hundreds of photographs - and a new, his own decision matured: a soldier with a child on his chest. He sculpted a figure of a meter-tall warrior. There is a fascist swastika under his feet, a machine gun in his right hand, and a three-year-old girl in his left hand.”
The time has come to demonstrate both projects under the light of the Kremlin chandeliers. In the foreground is a monument to the leader...
- Listen, Vuchetich, aren’t you tired of this guy with a mustache?
Stalin pointed the mouthpiece of his pipe towards the one and a half meter figure.
“This is just a sketch,” someone tried to intercede.
“The author was shell-shocked, but not without language,” Stalin said abruptly and fixed his gaze on the second sculpture. - What is this?
Vuchetich hastily removed the parchment from the soldier’s figure. Stalin examined him from all sides, smiled sparingly and said:
“We will place this soldier in the center of Berlin, on a high burial hill... Just you know, Vuchetich, the machine gun in the soldier’s hand must be replaced with something else.” A machine gun is a utilitarian object of our time, and the monument will stand for centuries. Give him something more symbolic. Well, let's say a sword. Weighty, solid. With this sword the soldier cut the fascist swastika. The sword is lowered, but woe will be the one who forces the hero to raise this sword. Do you agree?
Ivan Stepanovich Odarchenko recalls: “After the war, I served in the Weissensee commandant’s office for another three years. For a year and a half, he carried out an unusual task for a soldier - he posed for the creation of a monument in Treptower Park. Professor Vuchetich was looking for a sitter for a long time. I was introduced to Vuchetich at one of the sports events. He approved my candidacy, and a month later I was sent to pose for a sculptor.”
The construction of a monument in Berlin was considered a task of extreme importance. A special construction department was created. By the end of 1946, there were 39 competitive projects. Before their consideration, Vuchetich came to Berlin. The idea of the monument completely captured the imagination of the sculptor... Work on the construction of the monument to the liberating soldier began in 1947 and lasted more than three years. A whole army of specialists was involved here - 7 thousand people. The memorial occupies a huge area of 280 thousand square meters. The request for materials puzzled even Moscow - ferrous and non-ferrous metals, thousands of cubic meters of granite and marble. An extremely difficult situation was developing. A happy accident helped.
Honored Builder of the RSFSR G. Kravtsov recalls: “An exhausted German, a former prisoner of the Gestapo, came to me. He saw our soldiers picking out pieces of marble from the ruins of buildings, and hastened with a joyful statement: he knew a secret granite warehouse a hundred kilometers from Berlin, on the banks of the Oder. He himself unloaded the stone and miraculously escaped execution... And these piles of marble, it turns out, on Hitler's instructions, were stored for the construction of a monument to the victory... over Russia. This is how it happened...
During the storming of Berlin, 20 thousand Soviet soldiers died. More than 5 thousand soldiers are buried in the mass graves of the memorial in Treptow Park, under the old plane trees and under the mound of the main monument. Recalls former gardener Frieda Holzapfel: “Our first task was to remove bushes and trees from the site intended for the monument; mass graves were supposed to be dug in this place... And then cars with the mortal remains of the dead soldiers began to arrive. I just couldn't move. It was as if a sharp pain pierced me all over, I started crying bitterly and couldn’t help myself. In my mind at that moment I imagined a Russian woman-mother, from whom the most precious thing she had was taken away, and now she was being lowered into a foreign German land. Involuntarily, I remembered my son and husband, who were considered missing. Perhaps they suffered the same fate. Suddenly a young Russian soldier came up to me and said in broken German: “It’s not good to cry. The German kamerad sleeps in Russia, the Russian kamerad sleeps here. It doesn't matter where they sleep. The main thing is that there is peace. Russian mothers cry too. War is not good for people!” Then he came up to me again and thrust some kind of package into my hands. At home, I unwrapped it - there lay half a loaf of soldier’s bread and two pears...”
N.I. Masalov recalls: “I learned about the monument in Treptower Park by accident. I bought matches at the store and looked at the label. Monument to the soldier-liberator in Berlin by Vuchetich. I remembered how he made a sketch of me. I never thought that this monument depicts that battle for the Reichstag. Later I found out: Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov told the sculptor about the incident on the Landwehr Canal.”
The monument gained increasing popularity among people from many countries and gave rise to various legends. So, in particular, it was believed that a Soviet soldier actually carried a German girl from the battlefield during a firefight, but was seriously wounded and died in the hospital. At the same time, some enthusiasts, who were not satisfied with this legend, undertook repeated, but so far unsuccessful, searches for the unknown hero.
May 9th, 2015
Berlin, like no other German city, is connected with the history of the Second World War and especially with that part of it, which in Russia is called the Great Patriotic War. The capture of Berlin was the final victory of the Soviet troops and allies. The legendary photograph - albeit staged - of the hoisting of the red flag on the Reichstag became a symbol of victory in the bloodiest clash of the 20th century. Thousands of Soviet soldiers who took part in the battles died during the assault on the city, and after the end of the war, in Berlin, divided into sectors, the victors built memorial graves in honor of the fallen soldiers of their armies. And although the Allied memorials are no less interesting (and we will definitely talk about them later), it is the Soviet monuments that are the most outstanding, both historically and architecturally. For the 70th anniversary of the Victory, we have prepared a review of Soviet memorial complexes and monuments.
All of them, except for the Tiergarten memorial, were built in the Soviet sector, which later became East Berlin. According to the agreement on the protection of monuments of military glory, signed by Germany and Russia in 1992, the German state undertakes to monitor and care for complexes and monuments located on its territory. Therefore, all memorable places are in excellent condition, many have been restored. Every year on May 8, the day the war ended, flowers are laid at the monuments to Soviet soldiers, where veterans, government officials and simply city residents come.
Memorial complex in Tiergarten (Sowjetisches Ehrenmal Tiergarten)
Created by sculptors L. Kerbel and V. Tsigal, the memorial was inaugurated on November 11, 1945 in Tiergarten, on the Charlottenburg Highway (now 17 June Street), with the participation of a parade of allied troops. Until the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany in 1994, the territory of the monument was a Soviet enclave in the British sector, where Soviet soldiers carried an honor guard.
The complex covers one of the alleys of the park, on the site of which, according to the plans of the chief architect of the Reich, Albert Speer, the North-South Axis, the main street of the future capital of the world, was supposed to pass. The monument is a concave colonnade; six branches of the military are symbolized by six columns, the material for which was the destroyed granite supports of the Reich Chancellery. On the central, higher column, there is an eight-meter statue of a soldier with a rifle on his shoulder. On both sides of the colonnade there are two T-34 tanks and two ML-20 howitzers, which took part in the Battle of Berlin.
Behind the soldier is a garden with guard rooms and the graves of about 2,500 fallen soldiers.
Memorial complex in Treptower Park (Sowjetisches Ehrenmal im Treptower Park)
The central memorial to fallen Soviet soldiers is located in Treptover Park and is a grandiose architectural and sculptural ensemble. The memorial was built according to the winning design of the competition by sculptors E. Vuchetich and J. Belopolsky and opened on May 8, 1949 in the central part of the park.
At both entrances to the complex on Pushkinallee and on Am Treptower Park there are granite arches with the inscription “Eternal Glory...”. The alleys departing from them lead to a square with a three-meter sculpture of the grieving Mother Motherland made of light gray stone on a granite pedestal. The road, lined with birch and poplar trees, leads to granite terraces flanked by huge banners at half-staff. At their feet two bronze warriors knelt.
In the central part of the complex, five square terraces rise in steps - symbolic mass graves. On both sides, at equal distances, there are rows of sarcophagi with bas-reliefs depicting scenes from peaceful and military life - 16 according to the number of union republics at that time. The sixteenth republic of the USSR was the Karelo-Finnish SSR from 1940 to 1956. The sarcophagi are engraved with quotes from Stalin in Russian and German. Despite the critical attitude towards the figure of Stalin, it was later decided to leave the inscriptions as evidence of history.
At the end point of the ensemble, the central object rises - the “Warrior-Liberator” monument. The 13-meter bronze sculpture, cast in Leningrad, stands on a mausoleum pedestal located on a mound. In his left hand the Soviet soldier holds the German girl he saved, and in his right hand he holds a lowered sword, with which he breaks the Nazi swastika lying at his feet. The plot is based on a real event - on April 30, 1945, Sergeant Nikolai Ivanovich Masalov, during an assault near Tiergarten, saved and carried out a German girl under machine-gun fire. All elements are symbolic - the warrior personifies the Soviet army, the girl - the liberated new Germany. The sword, which is a copy of the medieval sword of the Pskov prince Vsevolod, according to Vuchetich’s idea, is the same sword that is handed over by the worker in Magnitogorsk (the sculpture “Rear to Front”), raised above himself by the Motherland in Volgograd (“Motherland”), and now , having broken the symbol of fascism, the warrior lowers it, marking the end of the war.
The mausoleum, which serves as the basis for the figure of a warrior, is a round domed hall. The walls are decorated with mosaics that depict people paying tribute to fallen soldiers.
During the GDR era, celebrations were held here to mark the anniversary of the end of the war, and in 1994, a farewell ceremony was held here before the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany, in which Russian and German soldiers, as well as Chancellor Kohl and President Yeltsin took part. In 2003, it was decided to restore the sculpture. It was dismantled into pieces and transported by barge to the island of Rügen to a restoration workshop, and in 2004 it was returned to its place. Now every year people lay flowers in memory of those killed in the war, and the annual festival takes place not far from the entrance to the complex.
Puschkinallee, Treptower Park
Memorial complex in Pankow-Schönholz (Sowjetisches Ehrenmal Schönholzer Heide)
The cemetery-monument to soldiers of the Soviet army in the Berlin district of Pankow-Schönholz is the largest burial place of fallen Soviet soldiers in Germany; more than 13,000 of the total 80,000 killed during the storming of Berlin are buried here. However, unlike the other two memorials in Tiergarten and Treptow, the complex in Pankov is not so well known.
The memorial was erected in 1947 - 49 according to the plans of architects K. A. Solovyov, M. Belaventsev, V. D. Korolev and sculptor I. G. Pershudchev. At the entrance to the memorial there are granite columns with bronze wreaths and bowls depicting the eternal flame.
The gates to the complex are two buildings with towers, inside of which, in a room similar to ancient Egyptian tombs, there are one and a half meter bronze urns. The ceiling consists of a stained glass window depicting the coat of arms of the USSR, and the walls are lined with sayings of Stalin in Russian and German.
In the center of the ensemble, as in Treptow, there are 16 sarcophagi. They lead to a 33-meter-high obelisk, in front of which stands a sculpture of the mourning Motherland, in front of which lies a fallen warrior covered with a banner. The names of fallen officers are engraved on the pedestal.
All along the wall around the complex are plaques with the names of identified fallen soldiers. It was possible to establish the names of only about 3,000 warriors; more than 10,000 remain nameless. Between the plaques are bronze lamps with ruby glass flames.
Until recently, the memorial was not in the best condition, but in 2013 it was completely restored.
Germanenstraße 43, Schonholz
Monument in Hohenschönhausen (Sowjetisches Ehrenmal Küstriner Straße)
Opened in 1975, the monument on Küstriner Strasse in the Hohenschönhausen district was created by sculptor I.G. Pershudchev, the author of the sculptures of the memorial in Pankov. Between the residential buildings there is a lawn, in the middle of which there is a platform laid out with slabs. A white concrete stele with a bronze bas-relief depicting warriors and battle scenes is located in the background of the ensemble, and in front of it in the center of the square is a red star.
Küstriner Straße 11, M5 Werneuchener Str.
Memorial Cemetery in Marzahn (Sowjetischer Ehrenhain Parkfriedhof Marzahn)
The burial place of about 500 soldiers and 50 officers on the territory of the park cemetery in Marzahn was opened in 1958 on the initiative of the GDR and with the consent of the military leadership of the Soviet troops. The architect J. Milenz and the sculptor E. Kobbert created a square square, at the entrance to which there are two bowed stone banners, and in the center there is an obelisk made of red granite, crowned with a star.
At the other end of the complex there is a small paved area on which stands a symbolic urn. On its sides are two stones with carved inscriptions; The same stones are installed at the entrance to the memorial.
On both sides of the road, grass covers plaques with the names of fallen soldiers.
Obelisk in Kaulsdorf (Sowjetisches Ehrenmal Kaulsdorf)
The monument was built in 1946 at the burial site of fallen soldiers. Their remains were later moved to a newly built memorial in Treptow.
Brodauer Straße 12, Kaulsdorf
Obelisk in Rummelsburg (Sowjetisches Ehrenmal Rummelsburg)
A simple yellow brick obelisk with a star and a brass plaque in German is located near the Erlöserkirche church in Rummelsburg.
Nöldner Straße 44, Rummelsburg
Obelisk in Rahnsdorf (Sowjetisches Ehrenmal Rahnsdorf)
On the border of the city in the southeast, near Müggelsee, there is an obelisk with a five-pointed star at the top. The names and date of death of Soviet soldiers who died during the assault in this direction are stamped on it.
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 76, Rahnsdorf
Obelisk in Buch (Sowjetisches Ehrenmal Buch)
The monument in the shape of a pyramid standing on a pedestal with columns is located right next to the station in Bukha, in the former palace park (the palace itself, unfortunately, has not survived).
Wiltbergstrasse 13, Buch
Obelisk in honor of May 8, 1945 on Herzbergstraße
In the first months after the end of the war, an obelisk was erected in the park of the city hospital in Herzberg in memory of those killed in the war. At the entrance to the monument, a gate was installed and flower beds were laid out. On the concrete obelisk there is only a relief in the form of the Order of the Red Star - the main military order of the Soviet army - and a white plate with the inscription "8. May 1945".
on the premises of the KEH hospital, Herzbergstr. 79, M8 Evangelisches Krankenhaus KEH
Memorial stone at Ostseeplatz
The stone is located between residential buildings on Ostseeplatz in Prenzlauer Berg.
Ostseestraße 92, M4 Greifswalder Str./Ostseestr.
Commemorative plaque at Schönhauser Allee station
Near the exit from the Schönhauser Allee metro station, several bronze plaques with reliefs can be found on the wall of the bridge over the railway tracks. This is a work by sculptor Günter Schütz, created in 1985-86. Four bas-reliefs depict the period of the struggle against National Socialism and the war, and the last symbolizes the liberation of Berlin by Soviet soldiers.
corner of Schönhauser Allee and Dänenstraße, + Schönhauser Allee
Stella in Adlershof
Two concrete stellas are located on the square in front of Adlershof station, on one of them there is an inscription in honor of Liberation Day - May 8, 1945.
Platz der Befreiung, Adlershof
The first liberated house in Marzahn
The red stone house at number 563 on Landsberger Allee is considered the first house in Berlin to be liberated during the Soviet offensive.
On April 21, 1945, soldiers of the 5th Shock Army under the command of Colonel General N.E. Berzarin reached the border of Berlin and raised a red banner on the roof of this house. Berzarin became the first commandant of Berlin, but two months later, on June 16, 1945, he died in a car accident. A square in Friedrichshain (Bersarinplatz) is named after N.E. Berzarin, and he himself is included in the list of honorary citizens of Berlin. At the site of his death, at the intersection of Schlossstrasse and Wilhelmstrasse (now Am-Tierpark and Alfred-Kowalke-Strasse) in the Friedrichsfelde district, a memorial stone was erected.
Nowadays, institutions are located in the monument house, but the inscription on the wall and the plaque remind that it was from here that the liberation of Berlin began.
Landsberger Allee 563, M6 Brodowiner Ring
German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst
A T-34 tank with the inscription “For the Motherland” is installed on a granite pedestal near the German-Russian Museum in Karlshorst. The museum is located in a historical building in which the act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany was signed on May 8, 1945, and is dedicated to the history of the Second World War, as well as the history of Soviet-German relations for the period 1917 - 1990. The museum also boasts an exhibition of military equipment, including the legendary Katyusha and the IS-2 tank.
Zwieseler Straße 4, Karlshorst