Monuments in the city honor WWII. Monuments to soldiers of the Great Patriotic War
Of course, the Great Patriotic War left a huge mark in the history of our Motherland. For the past 68 years, we have been honoring the memory of those who died on May 9 every year. We all know that huge numbers of monuments to the Great Patriotic War were built in the vastness of Russia. Below in the article we will consider the most famous of them, which are located in the hero cities of Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Tula, Volgograd, Novorossiysk and Smolensk. It was these cities that became most famous for their brave defense during the hostilities of 1941-43.
Let's start with Moscow. All Muscovites, of course, will say that the most significant for this city is Poklonnaya Hill, on which the Victory Park is located. The park was solemnly opened on May 9, 1995 during the celebration of Victory Day. The monuments of the Great Patriotic War located here include exhibitions of military equipment, museums of the Great Patriotic War and the Holocaust, a memorial mosque and synagogue, and a temple. In addition to these monuments, there are other minor structures that can be seen throughout Moscow.
Next, let's move on to St. Petersburg. Like in the capital, the "Northern Venice" also has a Victory Park, but here it is presented in duplicate: Primorsky, which is dedicated to naval victories, and Moscow, which is built as a holistic memory of the victory. The first one does not stand out in any way, but the latter has on its territory a large number of buildings that are monuments to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. Among them, the monuments-busts of twice Heroes of Socialist Labor, natives of the city, stand out in particular. Also of note is the Rotunda monument, commemorative crosses and plaques, various sculptures and the "Temporary" chapel. In addition to these parks, it is worth mentioning the museum-reserve "Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad", as well as the memorial museum "Defense and Siege of Leningrad", in which the entire severity of the battles and the "pulling out" of victory from the Nazi invaders are highlighted.
Tula is not particularly replete with monuments, however, it is worth noting the monument to the defenders of Tula in the Second World War, which is located on as well as the mound of Immortality in the city of Efremov, built at the residents' own expense.
Undoubtedly, one of the greatest cities that showed a heroic defense and no less heroic counteroffensive is Volgograd. On the most famous hill, where bloody battles took place from September 1942 until the next January - Mamaev Kurgan, there is an architectural ensemble of monuments dedicated to the Second World War. It includes, perhaps, the most famous monument of the Great Patriotic War of Russia "The Motherland Calls!", Which, by the way, is one of 3 squares (Sorrow Square, Heroes Square, Square of Those who stood to death), Monumental relief, high relief "Memory of generations" , Military cemetery, Ruined walls. Construction, during which many architects were involved, lasted almost 10 years, from 1959 to 1967.
Next, we will briefly examine the monuments of the Great Patriotic War in Smolensk. The Mound of Immortality is located in Readovka Park, which was built by the Smolensk people in memory of the soldiers and ordinary people who died during the Second World War. It was solemnly opened on September 25, 1970. Not far from the Kurgan you can see the Eternal Flame, and in the park itself it was also built where thousands of soldiers are buried. Among other monuments of Smolensk, the monument of the Great Patriotic War "Bayonet", which was erected in memory of the soldiers of the legendary 16th Army, who defended the city in July 1941, is worthy of mention.
The Victory Day of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 (1945), and the official name is exactly this, is the most important holiday for all the inhabitants of our country. The significance of this day for all of us and future generations cannot be overestimated. The little that we can do for those who gave their lives for our future is to carefully preserve the memory of those who died for the Motherland, not to forget ourselves and tell children about these sad pages in the history of the 20th century. This goal - to perpetuate the memory of the fallen - is served by museums and monuments, which are many in Russia and abroad.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden
The Eternal Flame burns here and a guard of honor is on duty every day. During official events, wreaths are laid at the memorial by heads of state, and the rest of the time, newlyweds, who traditionally come here on their wedding day, bring flowers.
The central element of the memorial ensemble near the walls of the Moscow Kremlin is a niche with the inscription “Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal”, in the center of which the Eternal Flame of Glory burns. Behind the niche is a tombstone with a bronze composition - a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch lying on a battle banner. To the left of the grave - a wall of crimson quartzite with the inscription: "1941 to those who fell for the Motherland 1945"; on the right - a granite alley with blocks of dark red porphyry. On each block there is the name of the hero city and a chased image of the Gold Star medal. The blocks contain capsules with the earth of hero cities. Next is a stele of red granite in honor of the cities of military glory, about 10 meters long.
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Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Great Victory in the west of Moscow, a large memorial complex was opened on an area of 135 hectares. The park itself was founded in 1958, but the architectural ensemble was built only by 1995. From the entrance stretched a wide alley "Years of War", decorated with five water cascades with 1418 fountains, according to the number of days that the war went on. In front of the building of the Central Museum of the Second World War stands the Victory Monument - an obelisk 141.8 meters high, at the foot of which is a statue of St. George the Victorious, who thrusts a spear into the body of a snake symbolizing fascism. The open-air exhibition of military equipment and weapons is of constant interest to park visitors. The park with neat paths, alleys and flower beds has become a favorite place for Muscovites and guests of the capital to walk.
Motherland
Monuments to war heroes are perhaps the only case when monumentality is justified. One of the highest monuments in the world - the main element of the ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd - the sculpture "The Motherland Calls!". The figure of a woman who raised her sword and took a step forward symbolizes the Motherland, calling her sons to fight the enemy. The remains of 34,505 soldiers - the defenders of Stalingrad - were reburied on the hill. From the foot of the mound to its top there are 200 granite steps - that is how many days the Battle of Stalingrad lasted.
Mamaev Kurgan in Volgograd
Kursk Bulge
From July 5 to August 23, 1943, one of the most important battles of the Great Patriotic War lasted - the Battle of Kursk. The result of this bloody and tense battle was the transfer of the strategic initiative to the Red Army. A memorial complex near the villages of Yakovlevo and Pokrovka serves as a reminder of the 250,000 lives that sacrificed themselves. The 44-meter arched stele with reliefs symbolizes the front line; in front of it, a T-34 tank is mounted on a pink granite pedestal. The Arc de Triomphe topped with a statue of George the Victorious rises 24 meters above the ground. On both sides of the Eternal Flame lie the remains of unknown warriors.
Outside Russia
In the German capital, in memory of the Soviet soldiers who fell in the Berlin battle, memorials were erected in the Tiergarten, Schönholzer Haid and Treptow parks. There are sculptures of Soviet soldiers-liberators in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Ukraine. Granite stele to the participants of the Second World War from the countries of the former USSR is installed in Los Angeles. The Brest Fortress has been open to the public since 1971 and tells about the heroic defense of the fort - one of the first battles for the USSR. The tragic story of the mass destruction of civilians is told by the museum in Auschwitz. Among the millions of victims of this death camp were 100,000 Russian people.
Parade
Commemorative events will be held on May 9 in all cities of Russia, and in the capital, Red Square, of course, will become the central place of celebration. A solemn review of troops and military equipment will take place on the main square of the country. Since 1996, the parade in honor of May 9 has been held here annually, and on June 24, 1945, columns of the first Victory Parade passed through Red Square and 200 banners and standards of the defeated Nazi divisions were dragged along the paving stones and thrown to the foot of the Mausoleum.
To remember the feat of the Soviet people, who did not spare themselves in this bloody war, of course, it is not at all necessary to go somewhere. The main place of memory is our hearts. Eternal glory to the winners!
Happy Victory Day!
Hello dear.
On the eve of the holiday, let us recall some of the famous monuments
So...
"Warrior Liberator"- a monument in Berlin's Treptow Park.
Sculptor E. V. Vuchetich, architect Ya. B. Belopolsky, artist A. V. Gorpenko, engineer S. S. Valerius.
Opened May 8, 1949.
Height - 12 meters. Weight - 70 tons.
"Motherland" (Batkivshchyna-mother)
The author of the memorial is Yevgeny Vuchetich;
After Vuchetich's death, the Ukrainian sculptor Vasily Borodai took charge of the project;
Sculptors: Fried Sagoyan, Vasily Vinaykin. Architects: Victor Elizarov, Georgy Kisly, Nikolay Feshchenko.
Opened as part of the museum complex in 1981 on Victory Day.
The height of the Motherland sculpture (from the pedestal to the tip of the sword) is 62 meters.
The total height with the pedestal is 102 meters.
In one hand, the statue holds a 16-meter sword weighing 9 tons, in the other - a shield measuring 13 × 8 meters with the coat of arms of the USSR (weighing 13 tons).
The entire structure is all-welded and weighs 450 tons.
The frame itself begins at a depth of 17.8 meters (from the entrance to the museum). A concrete well with a diameter of 34 meters goes to this depth. 
"Motherland is calling!"— Volgograd.
The monument is the central part of the triptych, which also consists of the monuments "Rear to Front" in Magnitogorsk and "Warrior-Liberator" in Treptow Park in Berlin. It is understood that the sword, forged on the banks of the Urals, was then raised by the Motherland in Stalingrad and lowered after the Victory in Berlin
Sculptor - E. V. Vuchetich. Engineer N. V. Nikitin
The sculpture is made of prestressed concrete - 5500 tons of concrete and 2400 tons of metal structures (without the base on which it stands).
The total height of the monument is 85 meters (the sculpture itself) - 87 meters (the sculpture with the mounting plate). It is installed on a concrete foundation 16 meters deep. The height of the female figure without the sword is 52 meters. The mass of the monument is over 8 thousand tons.
The statue stands on a 2-meter-high slab, which rests on the main foundation. This foundation is 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground. 
Monument "Rear to front". Magnitogorsk. It is considered the first part of the triptych, which also consists of the Motherland monuments on Mamaev Kurgan in Volgograd and the Liberator Warrior in Treptow Park in Berlin.
Sculptor - Lev Nikolaevich Golovnitsky, architect - Yakov Borisovich Belopolsky.
Material - bronze, granite. Height - 15 meters. 
Monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad on Victory Square in St. Petersburg
Sculptor: M. K. Anikushin. Architects: V. A. Kamensky, S. B. Speransky
Construction 1974-1975
Height 48 m
Material: bronze, granite 
"Motherland"- in St. Petersburg at the Piskarevsky memorial cemetery.
The authors of the ensemble are architects A. V. Vasiliev, E. A. Levinson, sculptors V. V. Isaeva and R. K. Taurit (“Motherland” and reliefs on the side walls), M. A. Vainman, B. E Kaplyansky, A. L. Malahin, M. M. Kharlamova (high reliefs on the central stele).
"Alyosha"- a monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator, in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv on the hill Bunardzhik ("Hill of the Liberators").
Sculptors V. Radoslavov and others, architects N. Marangozov and others.
Height 10 meters
The prototype of the monument is an ordinary consolidated company of the 3rd Ukrainian Front Alexei Ivanovich Skurlatov, a former shooter of the 10th separate ski battalion of the 922nd rifle regiment, transferred to signalmen due to a serious wound. In 1944 he restored the Plovdiv-Sofia telephone line. In Plovdiv, Aleksey Ivanovich became friends with a telephone exchange worker, Metodi Vitanov, a member of the Bulgarian Resistance. Metodi Vitanov gave the photo of Alexei to the sculptor Vasil Rodoslavov, who created the monument based on this image 
Memorial - "Brest fortress is a hero"
The memorial "Brest Hero Fortress" was built according to the designs of the sculptor Alexander Pavlovich Kibalnikov. 
Sculpture "Unbowed Man" in Khatyn
Architects: Yu. Gradov, V. Zankovich, L. Levin. Sculptor S. Selikhanov. The grand opening of the Khatyn memorial complex took place on July 5, 1969. 
Broken ring.(Kokkarevo, Leningrad region)
Architect V. G. Filippov. Sculptor K. M. Simun, Design engineer I. A. Rybin; 
Have a nice time of the day.
AiF.ru has collected stories of destroyed and forgotten monuments of the Great Patriotic War: extinguished "eternal" lights and monuments buried in garbage.
Non-eternal "eternal" fire
Photo: AiF / Ekaterina Grebenkova
Every weekend and holidays, a guard of honor from schoolchildren comes to Freedom Square in the center of Staraya Sarepta, a district of Volgograd. More than three thousand Soviet soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War are buried here.
The obelisk, 18 meters high, was opened here in 1958. And about 14 years ago, the mechanism of the Eternal Flame was also arranged, which does not work today.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina
As explained in the administration of the Krasnoarmeisky district, the Eternal Flame is lit only at “protocol events” - only a few times a year. The reason is the lack of funding. On such days, and these are May 9, August 23 (the day the most destructive bombing of Stalingrad began), February 2 (the defeat of the Nazi troops near Stalingrad), sponsors bring a liquefied gas cylinder to the memorial, which is connected to the "eternal fire". On ordinary days, the obelisk on the mass grave is decorated only with wreaths and fresh flowers.
Zakamsk: "eternal" according to the schedule
The symbol of the Great Victory in Zakamsk is turned on only once a year for a few hours. The Rear to Front memorial, one of the unspoken symbols of the city, is located in a cozy park. Families with children often come here for a walk.
The memorial "Rear to the Front" is one of the unspoken symbols of Zakamsk. Photo: AiF / Dmitry Ovchinnikov
There are drawings on half of the monuments, rubbish is scattered everywhere. Tiles are cracked in some places. In the extinct Eternal Flame, along with dirty foliage and candy wrappers, there is a plastic bottle.
A plastic bottle is lying in the extinct Eternal Flame. Photo: AiF / Dmitry Ovchinnikov
In the municipal budgetary institution "Improvement of the Kirovsky District" they said that here the Eternal Flame burns only on Victory Day: from 9 am to 10 pm. On other days, the gas is turned off - no money is found.
Maintenance of the monument, including restoration, takes place annually according to the schedule. Photo: AiF / Dmitry Ovchinnikov
The situation with the monument to the workers and employees of the shipyard, who died during the Great Patriotic War, is even worse than with the memorial "Rear to the Front". The sculpture is owned by the factory, which should take care of the pedestal, installed in 1975.
Monument to the workers and employees of the shipyard, who died during the Great Patriotic War. Photo: AiF / Dmitry Ovchinnikov
For 40 years, the monument has never been repaired. The green paint is peeling off on all sides. The eternal flame, the frame for which is made in the form of a five-pointed star, has not been burning for a long time. Candy wrappers, cigarette butts and even a gnawed bone are lying nearby.
The eternal flame, made in the form of a five-pointed star, does not burn. Photo: AiF / Dmitry Ovchinnikov
Before the holiday, they promise to bring the monument into its proper form: they will eliminate defects, touch up. On Victory Day, according to tradition, residents of the city will come here. Flowers will be laid at the memorial. Fiery patriotic speeches will again be heard from the impromptu stage, and a field kitchen will unfold next to the monument. They promise to light an eternal flame. For this, a special gas bottle will be brought. But after the holiday, the symbol of eternal memory will be extinguished again - until next year.
Mila's tragedy
Even sadder is the fate of the monument to the girl Mila, which was erected on the Soldier's Field in Volgograd in 1975. In January, the sculpture of a girl with a flower was destroyed by vandals. As the investigation established, a local resident pushed the monument off the pedestal in order to remove the surface layer of metal from it and hand it over to the collection point.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina
The sculpture of Mila did not appear on the Soldiers' Field by chance. Fierce battles were going on in the Gorodishchensky district. A small detachment of Soviet soldiers took up defense here, having orders to stop the enemy offensive at any cost.
Memorial Soldier's field. Photo: press service of the government of the Volgograd region
From here, before the battle, Major of the Soviet Army Dmitry Petrakov wrote a letter to his daughter Mila, the lines of which are engraved on a granite triangle: “My black-eyed Mila! I am sending you a cornflower. Imagine: there is a battle, enemy shells are exploding around, funnels are all around and a flower is growing here. And suddenly another explosion - the cornflower is torn off. I picked it up and put it in my tunic pocket. The flower grew, reached for the sun, but it was torn off by an explosive wave, and if I had not picked it up, it would have been trampled. This is how the fascists act in the occupied settlements, where they kill the guys. Mila! Papa Dima will fight the fascists to the last breath, so that the fascists do not treat you the same way as with this flower ... "
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina
Today weeds grow instead of cornflowers on Soldier's Field, the asphalt pavement has crumbled and cracked, the symbolic plowshares that plowed the field have rusted. And the mass grave, in which the urn with the ashes of the fallen soldiers was buried, was overgrown with thick grass.
The monument to the girl Mila was recently restored. But when the work to care for the Soldier's Field will be established, it is still unknown.
The "log of death" is buried in garbage
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina
The mass grave, in which the soldiers of the 95th Infantry Division, along with their commander, are buried, is located right on the banks of the Volga. There were fierce battles here, when the river literally burned, and its waters turned blood red. Today it is not easy to find this obelisk. There are no signs, and not all residents of the Krasnooktyabrsky district know about the existence of the monument.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina
It was here, in the Glubokaya Balka ravine, that the front line of the division's defense passed. The beam was shot through by the Germans to the Volga itself, the losses were huge, for which the area got its name - "Death Log".
Today, the monument is surrounded by debris. Broken bricks, fragments, bottles, packages. Judging by the huge garbage bags, residents bring and dump garbage here on purpose, not wanting to bother with waste removal.
Chelyabinsk: a monument among the stalls
In Soviet times, schoolchildren knew by heart the names of 23 Chelyabinsk motorists who became Heroes of the Soviet Union and full holders of the Order of Glory. In Chelyabinsk, two monuments were erected to soldiers-motorists. One of them is located on the territory of a liquidated military school, it is hidden from human eyes by a high fence and a strict checkpoint. The school is closed, the monument is "liquidated" along with it.
The second monument to soldiers-motorists has always been honored and respected. Here, in the courtyard of Bazhov Street, they led excursions and laid flowers. Today the monument is forgotten, abandoned, crumbling from old age. The place has long been chosen by the owners of retail outlets.
Monument to soldiers-motorists in Chelyabinsk. Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Uvarova
“I was still small. In the 80s, she ran here with her friends to play hide and seek, - says Elena Kulumbeeva, a resident of a neighboring house. - In the nineties, the monument miraculously disappeared. We took a closer look - and it was fenced off, as it were, with a fence. To reach, it was necessary to try. And everyone forgot how so?
Behind the fence grew a shopping center. The monument on its background was completely lost. To reach the monument, you need to walk three hundred meters from the road through mud that is impassable at any time of the year. The situation is also worsened by construction debris: a trailer with workers is located nearby, who now and then bring building materials right here, to the foot of the monument.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Uvarova
Near the monument - not wreaths and bouquets of fresh flowers, but an old broken chair and the same antediluvian table. This is where builders go for a smoke break.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Uvarova
It seems that, apart from them, no one has been interested in the monument for a long time. The red star on the stela had long since faded and almost merged with the gray concrete. The decoration of the monument crumbles and falls off in pieces. From the white marble fence, only rickety pieces of square tiles remained. Rusty iron bars protrude around the monument. Once there was an inscription here: "No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten."
But nearby there is a construction of multi-apartment, multi-colored, bright houses. A stream of buyers stretches towards the shopping complex, who do not even know that on the reverse side, in a wasteland, just a few meters away, a monument rests.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Uvarova
St. Petersburg: a monument behind the hangar
Last winter in St. Petersburg, one of the members of the Living City social movement discovered behind the hangars of the Lenta hypermarket an abandoned monument to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. The cast-iron figure of a soldier, littered with snow, stood in the industrial zone, on the territory of the former plant of lifting transport equipment named after. Kirov. Next to the blue fence enclosing the industrial zone, there is a stele on which more than five hundred names of the dead employees of the plant are engraved. On the stele is written “1941 - 1945. No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten. Eternal glory to the heroes. Together with the Fatherland, you all won the Victory. We have kept you in our hearts."
An abandoned monument to WWII veterans was found behind the hangars of a hypermarket. Photo: Living City Movement
Contrary to the inscription, the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the Great Victory was not preserved. These photos were taken almost a year and a half ago - in the winter of 2013. During this time, the blue fence was replaced with a concrete fence with barbed wire. Now there is no way to get to the monument at all. To the question of an AiF.ru correspondent, one of the workers of the industrial zone, who was passing by, answered: “I don’t know any monument. Go away, you can't take pictures here." Most likely, the monument to the heroes of the War has already been dismantled.
Now there is no way to get to the monument at all. Photo: AiF / Yana Khvatova
Few people know that one of the most famous and high Soviet sculptures - "The Motherland Calls!", Which is installed in Volgograd on Mamaev Kurgan, is only the second part of the composition, which consists of three elements at once. This triptych (a work of art, consisting of three parts and united by a common idea) also includes the monuments: “Rear to Front”, which is installed in Magnitogorsk and “Warrior-Liberator”, located in Treptow Park in Berlin. All three sculptures are united by one common element - the Sword of Victory.
Two of the three monuments of the triptych - "The Warrior-Liberator" and "The Motherland Calls!" - belong to the hand of one master, monumental sculptor Evgeny Viktorovich Vuchetich, who three times in his work addressed the theme of the sword. The third Vuchetich monument, which does not belong to this series, was installed in New York in front of the UN headquarters. The composition entitled "Let's beat swords into plowshares" shows us a worker who turns a sword into a plow. The sculpture itself was supposed to symbolize the desire of all the people of the world to fight for disarmament and the triumph of peace on Earth.
The first part of the trilogy "Rear to Front", located in Magnitogorsk, symbolizes the Soviet rear, which ensured the country's victory in that terrible war. In the sculpture, a worker hands over a sword to a Soviet soldier. It is understood that this is the Sword of Victory, which was forged and raised in the Urals, later it was raised by the "Motherland" in Stalingrad. The city in which there was a radical turning point in the war, and Nazi Germany suffered one of its most significant defeats. The third monument of the "Liberator Warrior" series lowers the Sword of Victory in the very lair of the enemy - in Berlin.
The reasons why Magnitogorsk was given such an honor - to become the first Russian city in which a monument to home front workers was erected, should not surprise anyone. According to statistics, every second tank and every third shell during the war years was fired from Magnitogorsk steel. Hence the symbolism of this monument - a worker of a defense plant, standing in the East, hands over a forged sword to a front-line soldier who is sent to the West. Where the trouble came from.
Later, this sword forged in the rear will lift up in Stalingrad on Mamaev Kurgan "Motherland". The place where the turning point in the war took place. And already at the end of the composition, the “Warrior-Liberator” will lower the sword on the swastika in the very center of Germany, in Berlin, completing the defeat of the fascist regime. A beautiful, concise and very logical composition that unites the three most famous Soviet monuments dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.
Despite the fact that the Sword of Victory began its journey in the Urals and ended it in Berlin, the triptych monuments were built in the reverse order. So the monument "Warrior-Liberator" was installed in Berlin in the spring of 1949, the construction of the monument "Motherland Calls!" ended in the fall of 1967. And the first monument of the Rear to the Front series was completed only in the summer of 1979.
"Rear - Front"
Monument "Rear - Front"
The authors of this monument were the sculptor Lev Golovnitsky and the architect Yakov Belopolsky. Two main materials were used to create the monument - granite and bronze. The height of the monument is 15 meters, while outwardly it looks much more impressive. This effect is created by the fact that the monument is located on a high hill. The central part of the monument is a composition that consists of two figures: a worker and a soldier. The worker is oriented to the east (in the direction where the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works was located), and the warrior looks to the west. Where the main fighting took place during the Great Patriotic War. The rest of the monument in Magnitogorsk is an eternal flame, which was made in the form of a flower star made of granite.
An artificial hill was erected on the bank of the river to install the monument, the height of which was 18 meters (the base of the hill was specially reinforced with reinforced concrete piles so that it could withstand the weight of the erected monument and not collapse over time). The monument was made in Leningrad, and in 1979 it was installed on the spot. The monument was also supplemented with two man-height trapeziums, on which the names of the inhabitants of Magnitogorsk, who received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the war years, were listed. In 2005, another part of the monument was opened. This time the composition was supplemented with two triangles, on which you can read the names of all the inhabitants of Magnitogorsk who died during the hostilities in 1941-1945 (a little more than 14 thousand names are listed in total).
"Rear - Front"
Monument "Motherland is calling!"
Monument "Motherland is calling!" is located in the city of Volgograd and is the compositional center of the monument-ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad", which is located on Mamaev Kurgan. This statue is considered one of the highest on the planet. Today she ranks 11th in the Guinness Book of Records. At night, the monument is effectively illuminated by spotlights. This sculpture was designed by sculptor E. V. Vuchetich and engineer N. V. Nikitin. The sculpture on Mamaev Kurgan is a figure of a woman standing with a sword raised up. This monument is a collective allegorical image of the Motherland, which calls on everyone to unite in order to defeat the enemy.
Drawing some analogy, we can compare the statue "Motherland is calling!" with the ancient goddess of victory, Nike of Samothrace, who also called on her children to repel the forces of the invaders. Subsequently, the silhouette of the sculpture "Motherland is calling!" was placed on the emblem and flag of the Volgograd region. It is worth noting that the peak for the construction of the monument was created artificially. Prior to this, the highest point of the Mamaev Kurgan in Volgograd was the territory, which was located 200 meters from the current peak. Currently, there is the Church of All Saints.
"Motherland is calling!"
The creation of the monument in Volgograd, excluding the pedestal, took 2,400 tons of metal structures and 5,500 tons of concrete. At the same time, the total height of the sculptural composition was 85 meters (according to other sources, 87 meters). Before starting the construction of the monument, a foundation was dug on Mamayev Kurgan for a statue 16 meters deep, and a two-meter slab was installed on this foundation. The height of the 8000-ton statue itself was 52 meters. In order to ensure the necessary rigidity of the frame of the statue, 99 metal cables were used, which are in constant tension. The thickness of the walls of the monument, made of reinforced concrete, does not exceed 30 cm, the inner surface of the monument consists of separate chambers that resemble the structures of a residential building.
Initially, the 33-meter sword, which weighed 14 tons, was made of stainless steel in a titanium sheath. But the huge size of the statue led to a strong swaying of the sword, this was especially noticeable in windy weather. As a result of such impacts, the structure gradually deformed, the sheets of titanium plating began to shift, and when the structure swayed, an unpleasant metal rattle appeared. To eliminate this phenomenon, in 1972 the reconstruction of the monument was organized. In the course of the work, the blade of the sword was replaced with another one, which was made of fluorinated steel, with holes made in the upper part, which were supposed to reduce the effect of the windage of the structure.
"Motherland is calling!"
One day, the main sculptor of the monument, Yevgeny Vuchetich, told Andrei Sakharov about his most famous sculpture, “The Motherland Calls!” “The bosses often asked me why a woman’s mouth was open, it’s ugly,” Vuchetich said. The famous sculptor answered this question: “And she screams - for the Motherland ... your mother!”
Monument "Warrior-Liberator"
On May 8, 1949, on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, a grand opening of a monument to Soviet soldiers who died during the storming of the German capital took place in Berlin. The Warrior-Liberator monument was erected in Berlin's Treptow Park. Its sculptor was E. V. Vuchetich, and the architect was Ya. B. Belopolsky. The monument was opened on May 8, 1949, the height of the warrior sculpture itself was 12 meters, its weight is 70 tons. This monument has become a symbol of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, it also personifies the liberation of all European peoples from fascism.
The sculpture of a soldier with a total weight of approximately 70 tons was produced in the spring of 1949 in Leningrad at the Monumental Sculpture factory, it consisted of 6 parts, which were then transported to Germany. Work on the creation of the memorial complex in Berlin was completed in May 1949. On May 8, 1949, the memorial was solemnly opened by the Soviet commandant of Berlin, Major General A. G. Kotikov. In September 1949, all responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the monument were transferred by the Soviet military commandant's office to the magistrate of Greater Berlin.
"Warrior Liberator"
The centerpiece of the Berlin composition is a bronze figure of a Soviet soldier standing on the ruins of a Nazi swastika. In one of his hands he holds a lowered sword, and with the other hand he supports the rescued German girl. It is assumed that the real Soviet soldier Nikolai Maslov, a native of the village of Voznesenka, Tisulsky district, Kemerovo region, served as a prototype for this sculpture. During the storming of the German capital in April 1945, he saved a German girl. Vuchetich himself created the monument "Warrior - Liberator" from the Soviet paratrooper Ivan Odarenko from Tambov. And for the girl, 3-year-old Svetlana Kotikova, who was the daughter of the commandant of the Soviet sector of Berlin, posed for the sculpture. It is curious that on the sketch of the monument, the soldier held a machine gun in his free hand, but at the suggestion of Stalin, the sculptor Vuchetich replaced the machine gun with a sword.
The monument, like all three monuments of the triptych, is located on a mound, a staircase leads to the pedestal. Inside the pedestal is a round hall. Its walls were decorated with mosaic panels (author - artist A. V. Gorpenko). The panel depicted representatives of various nations, including the peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus, who lay wreaths at the grave of Soviet soldiers. Above their heads is written in Russian and German: “Now everyone recognizes that the Soviet people, by their selfless struggle, saved the civilization of Europe from fascist pogromists. This is the great merit of the Soviet people to mankind. In the center of the hall there was a cubic pedestal made of black polished stone, on which there was a golden chest with a parchment book in a red morocco binding. The names of the heroes who fell in the battles for the German capital were inscribed in this book and were buried in mass graves. The dome of the hall was decorated with a chandelier with a diameter of 2.5 meters, which is made of crystal and rubies, the chandelier reproduces the Order of Victory.
"Warrior Liberator"
In the fall of 2003, the sculpture "Liberator Warrior" was dismantled and sent for restoration work. In the spring of 2004, the restored monument returned to its rightful place. Today, this complex is the center of commemorative celebrations.
Sources of information:
http://ribalych.ru/2014/08/04/unikalnyj-triptix
http://www.pravda34.info/?page_id=1237
http://defendingrussia.ru/love/pamyatniki_pobedy
http://www.tgt.ru/menu-ver/encyclopedia/tourism/countries/dostoprimechatelnosti/dostoprimechatelnosti_155.html
https://en.wikipedia.org
