Soldier-liberator in Berlin. Monument in Treptower Park (story, photo, video)
69 years ago, on May 8, 1949, the Monument to the Soldier-Liberator in Treptower Park. This memorial was erected in memory of the 20 thousand Soviet soldiers who died in the battles for the liberation of Berlin, and became one of the most famous symbols of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Few people know that the idea for creating the monument was true story, and the main character of the plot was a soldier Nikolay Masalov, whose feat was undeservedly forgotten for many years.
The memorial was erected at the burial site of 5 thousand Soviet soldiers who died during the capture of the capital of Nazi Germany. Along with Mamayev Kurgan in Russia, it is one of the largest and most famous of such monuments in the world. The decision to build it was made at the Potsdam Conference two months after the end of the war.
The idea for the composition of the monument was a real story: on April 26, 1945, Sergeant Nikolai Masalov carried a German girl out from under fire during the storming of Berlin. He himself later described these events as follows: “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. 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.” The sergeant was wounded in the leg, but he carried the girl to his own. After the Victory, Nikolai Masalov returned to the village of Voznesenka, Kemerovo region, then moved to the city of Tyazhin and worked there as a caretaker in a kindergarten. His feat was remembered only 20 years later. In 1964, the first publications about Masalov appeared in the press, and in 1969 he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Berlin.
Nikolai Masalov became the prototype of the Warrior-Liberator, but another soldier posed for the sculptor - Ivan Odarchenko from Tambov, who served in the Berlin commandant's office. Vuchetich noticed him in 1947 at the celebration of Athlete’s Day. Ivan posed for the sculptor for six months, and after the monument was installed in Treptow Park, he stood guard next to him several times. They say that people approached him several times, surprised by the similarity, but the private did not admit that this similarity was not at all accidental. After the war, he returned to Tambov, where he worked at a factory. And 60 years after the opening of the monument in Berlin, Ivan Odarchenko became the prototype of the Veteran’s monument in Tambov.
The model for the statue of the girl in the arms of a soldier was supposed to be a German woman, but in the end, the Russian girl Sveta, the 3-year-old daughter of the commandant of Berlin, General Kotikov, posed for Vuchetich. In the original version of the memorial, the warrior was holding a machine gun in his hands, but they decided to replace it with a sword. It was an exact copy of the sword of the Pskov prince Gabriel, who fought together with Alexander Nevsky, and this was symbolic: Russian warriors defeated the German knights on Lake Peipsi, and several centuries later they defeated them again.
Work on the memorial took three years. Architect J. Belopolsky and sculptor E. Vuchetich sent a model of the monument to Leningrad, and there a 13-meter figure of the Liberator Warrior was made, weighing 72 tons. The sculpture was transported to Berlin in parts. According to Vuchetich’s story, after it was brought from Leningrad, one of the best German foundries examined it and, finding no flaws, exclaimed: “Yes, this is a Russian miracle!”
Vuchetich prepared two designs for the monument. Initially, it was planned to erect a statue of Stalin holding a globe in Treptower Park as a symbol of the conquest of the world. As a fallback option, Vuchetich proposed a sculpture of a soldier holding a girl in his arms. Both projects were presented to Stalin, but he approved the second one.
The memorial was inaugurated on the eve of the 4th anniversary of the Victory over fascism, May 8, 1949. In 2003, a plaque was installed on the Potsdam Bridge in Berlin in memory of the feat of Nikolai Masalov accomplished in this place. This fact was documented, although eyewitnesses claimed that there were several dozen such cases during the liberation of Berlin. When they tried to find that same girl, about a hundred responded German families. The rescue of about 45 German children by Soviet soldiers was documented.
At the Motherland from a propaganda poster from the times of the Great Patriotic War there was also a real prototype: .
As it turned out, few of the city's guests know where the monument to the Soviet soldier is located in Berlin. However, this is not tricky, because... it is not always possible to find it in the main ones.
So, the monument to the soldier liberator in Berlin is located in Treptower Park in the eastern part of the city. To get to the park, you need to get to the S-Bahn train station “Treptow Park”. From there it’s a 5-minute walk. I advise you to immediately look on the map in which direction to go, because... despite the fact that the monument stands quite high, it is completely invisible behind the trees.
In one of my notes, I already wrote that ceremonial events are taking place related to the anniversary of the liberation of Germany from fascism.
It’s a shame that this topic has gotten completely wild lately. We have all heard various crazy things on this topic, we will not focus our attention on them. Anyone who is interested in this monument will understand me.
So, on May 8th and 9th there are a lot of people here. People come to bow to the Soviet liberator warrior and honor the memory of their grandfathers. Every time I am surprised how many Germans come to the monument to lay flowers. Also nearby, various events of anti-fascist organizations take place on the site. The audience is, let's say, motley. People walk until late.
The monument is located in perfect condition, which requires considerable investment. I am very glad that money is being allocated for this. Although in Germany this is the norm.
Few people know...
Very few people know that in Berlin there is another very well-kept and no less solemn memorial complex - this is the cemetery of Soviet soldiers. This complex is located in the district of Reinickendorf, away from public transport. The memorial is also in perfect condition; a major renovation was carried out last year.
This is the place on the map
If you have half a day of time, I recommend checking out this place. It must be remembered that the monument closes at 18:00. This is likely due to possible vandalism. I won’t confirm it, but I ask myself the question, why lock up a large memorial. This is very atypical for Berlin. Here such places are always open.
And two more places
If I started talking about our military monuments, then I should mention two more places with this theme. This is a monument to the liberating soldiers behind the Brandenburg Gate ( on the map) and the Russian-German War Museum in Karlshorst ( on the map). By the way, it was there that the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany was signed. Here you can explore the hall in which, in fact, the signing of the document that meant the end of the war took place. The museum displays many different military exhibits. I highly recommend this place!
Have a nice time in Berlin!
The monument erected in Germany to the Soviet soldier-liberator, who carries a little rescued girl in his arms, is one of the most majestic symbols of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Warrior Hero
The external one was originally conceived by the artist A.V. Gorpenko. However, the key author of the monument to the liberating warrior E.V. Vuchetich was able to bring his idea to life only thanks to Stalin’s decisive word. It was decided to coincide with the installation on May 8, 1949.
The architect Ya. B. Belopolsky and the engineer S. S. Valerius made the basic sketches of the future sculpture, but the key part of the work fell on the shoulders of the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich, admired by the feat of soldier Nikolai Maslov, who selflessly fought the German occupiers all the way to the capital of the Nazi Reich.
It was the feat of an ordinary soldier, who was not afraid to walk under shell explosions and bullets flying from all sides in order to save a little German girl, that played a decisive role in the creation of a monument to Soviet soldiers in Berlin. The monument is so to an outstanding person should have been created only by an equally unconventional personality. It was decided to install the sculpture in Treptower Park as a symbol of the victory over fascism.
The best of the best
In order to show the whole world the heroic feat of our soldiers, soviet government allowed to erect a monument to Russian soldiers in Berlin. Treptower Park received a permanent decoration in the form of a memorial complex only after the best of the best were selected in a competition in which some 33 individual projects took part. Moreover, only two of them ultimately reached the leading position. The first belonged to E.V. Vuchetich, and the second - Ya.B. Belopolsky. The 27th Directorate, responsible for the army defense structures of the entire Soviet Union, had to ensure that the monument to Russian soldiers in Berlin was erected in compliance with all ideological norms.
Since the work was difficult and painstaking, it was decided to involve more than 1000 German soldiers serving sentences in Soviet prisons, as well as more than 200 workers from the German foundry company Noack, the mosaic and stained glass workshop Puhl&Wagner and gardeners working in the Spathnursery partnership.
Manufacturing
Soviet monuments in Berlin were supposed to constantly remind German citizens what awaited their people if such terrible acts were repeated. It was decided to produce the monument at the Monumental Sculpture plant, located in Leningrad. The monument to Russian soldiers in Berlin exceeded the 70-ton mark, which made its transportation significantly more difficult.
Because of this, it was decided to divide the structure into 6 main components and thus transport them to Berlin's Treptower Park. The hard work was completed in early May under the tireless leadership of architect Ya. B. Belopolsky and engineer S. S. Valerius, and on the 8th the monument was presented to the whole world. The monument to Russian soldiers in Berlin reaches a height of 12 meters and is today a key symbol of the victory over fascism in Germany.
The opening of the memorial in Berlin was led by A.G. Kotikov, who is a major general in the Soviet army and at that time served as the city commandant.
By mid-September 1949, the monument to the soldier-liberator in Berlin came under the control of the Soviet military commandant's office of the Greater Berlin Magistrate.
Restoration
By the fall of 2003, the sculpture had become so dilapidated that the leadership of the Federal Republic of Germany decided on the need to carry out a process during which the monument to the liberating soldier in Berlin was dismantled and sent for modernization. It lasted for almost six months, resulting in an updated figure already in May 2004 Soviet hero returned to its original place.
Author of the monument "Warrior-Liberator"
The sculptor of the monument, Viktorovich Vuchetich, is today the most famous monumentalist of the Soviet era.
Who is he, the hero?
The monument in Berlin was made using the figure of a Soviet soldier - the hero Nikolai Maslov, a native of the village of Voznesenki. This heroic man lived in the Tula district of the Kemerovo region. He managed to save a little German girl during the storming of Berlin in April 1945. During the operation to liberate Berlin from the remnants of fascist formations, she was only 3 years old. She sat in the ruins of the building near the body of her dead mother and cried bitterly.
As soon as there was a slight lull among the bombings, the Red Army soldiers heard the cry. Maslov, without hesitation, made his way through the shelling zone behind the child, asking his comrades to cover him if possible with fire support. The girl was saved from the fire, but the hero himself was seriously injured.
The German authorities did not forget about the generosity of the Soviet man and, in addition to the monument, perpetuated his memory by hanging a plaque on the Potsdam Bridge telling in detail about his feat for the sake of a German child.
Biography details
Nikolai Maslov spent most of his adult life in harsh Siberia. All the men in his family were hereditary blacksmiths, so the boy’s future was considered initially predetermined. His family was quite large, considering that, besides him, his parents had to raise five more children - 3 boys and 2 girls. Until the outbreak of hostilities, Nikolai worked as a tractor driver in his native village.
As soon as he turned 18, he was drafted into the Soviet army, where he graduated with honors. preparatory school mortarmen. Exactly a year after he first joined the army, his regiment first encountered the realities of war, coming under German fire on the Bryansk Front near Kastornaya.
The battle was very long and difficult. Soviet soldiers managed to escape from the fascist encirclement three times. Moreover, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that even in such difficult situation the soldiers managed to save at the cost of many human lives the banner they received in Siberia in the first days of the creation of the regiment. The guys managed to get out of the encirclement with only 5 people, one of whom was Maslov. All the rest consciously gave their lives for the life and freedom of the Fatherland.
Successful career
The survivors were reorganized, and Nikolai Maslov ended up in the legendary 62nd Army under the command of General Chuikov. The Siberians managed to win on Mamayev Kurgan. Nikolai and his closest comrades were repeatedly bombarded with debris from the dugout mixed with clods of earth flying from all sides. However, colleagues returned and dug them up.
After participating in the Battles of Stalingrad, Nikolai was appointed as an assistant at the Banner Factory. No one could even imagine that a simple rural guy would go all the way to Berlin in pursuit of the Nazis.
During all the years of his stay in the war, Nikolai managed to become an experienced warrior, fluent in weapons. Having reached Berlin, he and his comrades took the city into a tight ring. His 220th regiment advanced along the government office.
When there was about an hour left before the start of the assault, the soldiers heard crying from underground. There, on the ruins of an old building, clinging to the corpse of her mother, sat a little girl. Nikolai learned all this when, under the cover of his comrades, he was able to make his way to the ruins. Having grabbed the child, Nikolai ran back to his own people, receiving a serious injury on the way, which did not prevent him from performing a truly heroic feat along with everyone else.
Description of the monument “Warrior-Liberator”
As soon as the last stronghold of fascism was taken by Soviet soldiers, Evgeniy Vuchetich met with Maslov. The story about the rescued girl gave him the idea to create a monument to the liberating warrior in Berlin. It was supposed to symbolize the dedication of the Soviet soldier, protecting not only the whole world, but also every single person from the threat of fascism.
The central part of the exhibition is occupied by the figure of a soldier who is holding a child with one hand and a sword lowered to the ground with the other. Under the feet of the hero of the Soviet Union lie fragments of a swastika.
The park in which the memorial was erected is famous for the fact that more than 5,000 Soviet soldiers found rest there. According to the initial plan, on the site where the monument to the liberating soldier stands, a sculpture of Stalin holding a globe was to be installed in Berlin. Thus symbolizing that Soviet power keeps the whole world under its control and will never again allow the threat of fascism.
Additional facts
It would not be amiss to note the fact that as a sign of victory over Nazi Germany Soviet Union issued a coin with a face value of 1 ruble, back side which captured the work of Yevgeny Vuchetich - “Warrior-Liberator”.
This idea belonged directly to the famous hero marshal. As soon as the Potsdam Conference came to an end, he summoned a sculptor and asked to create a sculpture that would show at what price the world was acquired and what awaits anyone who ever encroaches on its integrity.
The sculptor agreed, but decided to play it safe and created an additional version of the sculpture of a Soviet soldier with a machine gun and a child in his arms. Stalin approved this particular option, but ordered the machine gun to be replaced with a sword, with which a simple soldier would cut the last symbol of fascism, the role of which was played by the swastika.
It cannot be said that the monument to the soldier-liberator in Berlin is just a prototype of Nikolai Maslov. This is a complete, collective image of all the soldiers who selflessly defended their homeland.
After work on creating the figure was in full swing for six months, the “Warrior-Liberator” began to rise in Treptower Park, and due to its significant height you can see it anywhere in the park.
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 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 ordinary 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 from 1940 to 1956 the Karelo-Finnish SSR. 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 rises the central object - 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 real event- On April 30, 1945, Sergeant Nikolai Ivanovich Masalov, during an assault near Tiergarten, rescued 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 tall bronze urns. The ceiling consists of a stained glass window depicting the coat of arms of the USSR, and on the walls are Stalin's sayings in Russian and German languages.
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 located in better condition, but was completely restored in 2013.
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 Günther 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 military equipment, including the legendary Katyusha and the IS-2 tank.
Zwieseler Straße 4, Karlshorst
...And in Berlin on a holiday
Was erected to stand for centuries,
Monument to the Soviet soldier
With a rescued girl in her arms.
He stands as a symbol of our glory,
Like a beacon shining in the darkness.
This is him - a soldier of my state -
Protects peace throughout the world!
G. Rublev
On May 8, 1950, one of the most majestic symbols of the Great Victory was opened in Berlin's Treptow Park. The liberating warrior climbed to a height of many meters with a German girl in his arms. This 13-meter monument became epoch-making in its own way.
Millions of people visiting Berlin try to be here to worship the great feat Soviet people. Not everyone knows that according to the original plan, in Treptow Park, where the ashes of more than 5 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers rest, there should have been a majestic figure of Comrade. Stalin. And this bronze idol was supposed to hold a globe in its hands. Like, “the whole world is in our hands.”
This is exactly what the first one imagined soviet marshal– Kliment Voroshilov, when he summoned the sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich immediately after the end of the Potsdam Conference of the Heads of the Allied Powers. But the front-line soldier, sculptor Vuchetich, prepared another option just in case - the pose should be an ordinary Russian soldier who tramped from the walls of Moscow to Berlin, saving a German girl. They say that the leader of all times and peoples, having looked at both proposed options, chose the second. And he only asked to replace the machine gun in the soldier’s hands with something more symbolic, for example, a sword. And so that he chops down the fascist swastika...
Why exactly the warrior and the girl? Evgeniy Vuchetich was familiar with the story of the feat of Sergeant Nikolai Masalov...
A few minutes before the start of a fierce attack on German positions, he suddenly heard, as if from underground, a child’s cry. Nikolai rushed to the commander: “I know how to find the child! Allow me!" And a second later he rushed to search. Crying came from under the bridge. However, it is better to give the floor to Masalov himself. Nikolai Ivanovich recalled this: “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. 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.”
At this moment Nikolai was wounded in the leg. But he didn’t abandon the girl, he brought it to his people... And a few days later the sculptor Vuchetich appeared in the regiment, who made several sketches for his future sculpture...
This is the most common version that the historical prototype for the monument was soldier Nikolai Masalov (1921-2001). In 2003, a plaque was installed on the Potsdamer Bridge (Potsdamer Brücke) in Berlin in memory of the feat accomplished in this place.
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 times 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.
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.
It is interesting that after the opening of the monument in Treptower Park, Ivan Odarchenko, who served in the Berlin commandant’s office, guarded the “bronze soldier” several times. People approached him, amazed at his resemblance to the liberating warrior. But modest Ivan never said that it was he who posed for the sculptor. And the fact that the original idea of holding a German girl in his arms, in the end, had to be abandoned.
The prototype of the child was 3-year-old Svetochka, the daughter of the commandant of Berlin, General Kotikov. By the way, the sword was not at all contrived, but exact copy the sword of the Pskov prince Gabriel, who, together with Alexander Nevsky, fought against the “dog knights”. The weight of this sword was about two pounds.
It is interesting that the sword in the hands of the “Warrior-Liberator” has a connection with other famous monuments: it is implied that the sword in the hands of the soldier is the same sword that the worker gives to the warrior depicted on the monument “Rear to Front” (Magnitogorsk), and which then the Motherland raises it on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd.
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 in this case Quotes should not be taken out of the general context; they are a document of history necessary for its comprehension.
After the Battle of Berlin, the sports park near Treptower Allee became a soldiers' cemetery. Mass graves are located under the alleys of the memory park.
The work began when Berliners, not yet divided by the wall, were rebuilding their city brick by brick from the ruins. Vuchetich was helped by German engineers. The widow of one of them, Helga Köpfstein, recalls: much in this project seemed unusual to them.
Helga Köpfstein, tour guide: “We asked why the soldier was holding a sword rather than a machine gun? They explained to us that the sword is a symbol. A Russian soldier defeated the Teutonic knights on Lake Peipus, and a few centuries later he reached Berlin and defeated Hitler.”
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 took part in the construction of the memorial. They all received additional allowances and food. Bowls for eternal flame and a mosaic in the mausoleum under the sculpture of the liberating warrior.
Work on the memorial was carried out for 3 years by the architect J. Belopolsky and sculptor E. Vuchetich. Interestingly, granite from Hitler's Reich Chancellery was used for construction. 13 meter figure Warrior-liberator was manufactured in St. Petersburg and weighed 72 tons. It was transported to Berlin in parts by water. According to Vuchetich’s story, after one of the best German foundries carefully examined the sculpture made in Leningrad and made sure that everything was done flawlessly, he approached the sculpture, kissed its base and said: “Yes, this is a Russian miracle!”
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 GDR era, the memorial complex in Treptower Park served as the venue for various kinds official events, 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.
It is impossible not to talk about the further fates of Nikolai Masalov and Ivan Odarchenko. After demobilization, Nikolai Ivanovich returned to his native village of Voznesenka, Tisulsky district, Kemerovo region. A unique case - his parents took four sons to the front and all four returned home victorious. Due to shell shock, Nikolai Ivanovich was unable to work on a tractor, and after moving to Tyazhin he got a job as a supply manager in kindergarten. This is where journalists found him. 20 years after the end of the war, fame fell on Masalov, which, however, he treated with his characteristic modesty.
In 1969 he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Berlin. But when talking about his heroic deed, Nikolai Ivanovich never tired of emphasizing: what he did was no feat; many would have done the same in his place. That's how it was in life. When German Komsomol members decided to find out about the fate of the rescued girl, they received hundreds of letters describing similar cases. And the rescue of at least 45 boys and girls by Soviet soldiers has been documented. Today Nikolai Ivanovich Masalov is no longer alive...
But Ivan Odarchenko still lives in Tambov (information for 2007). He worked at a factory, then retired. He buried his wife, but the veteran has frequent guests – his daughter and granddaughter. And at parades dedicated to the Great Victory, Ivan Stepanovich was often invited to portray a liberating warrior with a girl in his arms... And on the 60th anniversary of the Victory, the Memory Train even brought an 80-year-old veteran and his comrades to Berlin.
Last year, a scandal erupted in Germany around monuments to Soviet liberating soldiers erected in Berlin's Treptower Park and Tiergarten. Due to latest events in Ukraine, journalists from popular German publications sent letters to the Bundestag demanding the dismantling of legendary monuments.
One of the publications that signed the openly provocative petition was the newspaper. Journalists write that Russian tanks have no place near the famous Brandenburg Gate. "Bye Russian troops threaten the security of a free and democratic Europe, we do not want to see a single Russian tank in the center of Berlin,” write angry media workers. In addition to the authors of Bild, this document was also signed by representatives of the Berliner Tageszeitung.
German journalists believe that Russian military units stationed near the Ukrainian border threaten the independence of a sovereign state. "For the first time since graduating cold war Russia is trying to suppress a peaceful revolution in Eastern Europe"- write German journalists.
The scandalous document was sent to the Bundestag. By law, German authorities must review it within two weeks.
This statement by German journalists caused a storm of indignation among readers of Bild and Berliner Tageszeitung. Many believe that newspapermen are deliberately escalating the situation around the Ukrainian issue.
Over the course of sixty years, this monument has truly become an integral part of Berlin. He was on postage stamps and coins, during the GDR, probably half of the population of East Berlin was accepted as pioneers. In the nineties, after the unification of the country, Berliners from the west and east held anti-fascist rallies here.
And neo-Nazis more than once smashed marble slabs and painted swastikas on obelisks. But each time the walls were washed, and the broken slabs were replaced with new ones. The Soviet soldier in Treptover Park is one of the most well-kept monuments in Berlin. Germany spent about three million euros on its reconstruction. This irritated some people greatly.
Hans Georg Büchner, architect, former member of the Berlin Senate: “What is there to hide, in the early nineties we had one member of the Berlin Senate. When your troops were withdrawing from Germany, this figure shouted - let them take this monument with them. Now no one even remembers his name.”
A monument can be called a national monument if people go to it not only on Victory Day. Sixty years have changed Germany greatly, but it has not changed the way Germans view their history. Both in the old Gadeer guidebooks and on modern tourist sites, this is a monument to the “Soviet soldier-liberator.” To the common man, who came to Europe in peace.
