Soviet Monument

icon-locationPuschkinallee, 12435 Berlin, Germany
“One of the greatest monuments to the liberation from National Socialism”

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union – breaking the non-aggression pact between the two countries. That day marked the beginning of the "Great Patriotic War", as the conflict between the two former allies ended in the Soviet Union.After the war ended, the Soviet authorities ordered the construction of three majestic monument in Berlin to honor the memory of some 80,000 Red Army soldiers who fell in the battle for the city.The largest and most important is the Soviet Monument, located in Treptower park.

Thirty designs for the monument were submitted and the winning work came from a "creative collective" of Soviet architect Yakov S. Belopolski, sculptor Yevgeni W.Vuchetich, painter Alexander A. Gorpenko and engineer Sarra S. Valerius. In 1947, a special unit of officers and engineers was assigned to build the memorial under the supervision of German companies. This extraordinary war memorial and military cemetery was officially unveiled on May 8, 1949.

The two entrances to the memorial, at Puschkinallee and on Am Treptower Park, are defined by two large archways. Wide roads will bring visitors to a clearing, where they will see the 3-meter-long marble statue "Mother Homeland". A side promenade shaded by birch trees leads past two large flags stylized in red granite into the main part of the base, the war cemetery.

At the foot of the hill and along the central axis are five rectangular lawn sections, designed as iconic communal tombs, framed by a wide mosaic walkway. Eight sarcophagi made of limestone blocks stand on each side of this central area and represent the 16 republics that the Soviet Union consisted of at the time. Their reliefs are illustrated with scenes from the movie "The Great Patriotic War". The graves of more than 7,000 soldiers killed in battle and laid to rest are here behind the sarcophagus in the grassy area under the trees.

The centerpiece of the memorial site is a conical hill bearing a tomb that also serves as a pedestal for the central figure of the memorial - a Red Army soldier. Bronze sculpture of a Soviet soldier, holding a rescued child in his arms and a sword lowered over a broken swastika, symbolizing the overthrow of Socialism nation and the prospect of a peaceful future.


Address: Puschkinallee, 12435 Berlin

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