Memorial to the fallen Soviet soldiers in the Tiergarten (photo)

The Great Patriotic War claimed the lives of more than 8.6 million soldiers of the Soviet Army. Of these, about 75,000 servicemen died in the days of the storming of Berlin, as a result of which our troops entered the city and forced Hitler to capitulate. In memory of the Soviet soldiers who gave their lives in the decisive battle for victory, after the war in the German capital, 3 large monuments were erected. One of them is a memorial to the fallen Soviet soldiers in the Tiergarten, a photo of which can be seen in this article.

Location and brief description

The second largest park in the German capital, the Great Tiergarten, was chosen as the site of the erection of the monument. Its name from the German language is translated as "zoo". The memorial to the Soviet soldiers in the Tiergarten is located next to the Brandenburg Gate, in the street on June 17.

It is an architectural and sculptural complex, on the territory of which there is not only a monument, but also a large mass grave. It contains the remains of officers and soldiers of the Soviet Army who died in Berlin during the last days of the Great Patriotic War.

History of the erection of the monument

The idea of building a monument in memory of the Soviet servicemen killed by the storming of Berlin was voiced by the commander of the First Byelorussian Front, Marshal G. Zhukov. It happened in May 1945 in the defeated capital of Germany. The idea of the celebrated marshal was supported by the Soviet military leadership, and work began on the construction of the monument. The authors of the project were young and still very few famous sculptors Vladimir Tsigal and Lev Kerbel in collaboration with the architect Nikolai Sergievsky. The creators traveled all over Berlin in search of a suitable site for the monument and chose the Tiergarten park, located near the Reichstag. This place was liked by them for two reasons. First, it was ideal from an architectural point of view, and secondly, here were the most brutal fighting for Berlin.

The Soviet leadership approved the idea of erecting a memorial in the Tiergarten, but one problem arose. Berlin was divided between the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition (the USSR, France, Great Britain and the USA) into 4 occupation zones, and the park was located in the British zone of influence. W. Churchill by this time already left the post of British Prime Minister. Soviet diplomats applied for permission to erect a monument to the dead Soviet soldiers for the English commandant of Berlin, Major-General Lain. Negotiations were successful, and on the territory of the British occupation zone in 1945 the USSR began to build a memorial to the fallen Soviet soldiers in the Tiergarten.

The monument was erected in the shortest possible time. Its solemn opening took place on November 11, 1945. In addition to the Soviet side, the commandants of the British, French and American sectors of the German capital attended the ceremony. In honor of the opening at the foot of the memorial complex, a parade of Allied troops was held.

Description of the monument

The memorial to the fallen soldiers of the Soviet Union in the Tiergarten is included today in the list of the main attractions of the park. It is a monumental composition, in the center of which at an altitude of 8 meters the bronze figure of a Soviet soldier rises in full uniform. Hanging from behind his rifle indicates the end of hostilities and the onset of the long-awaited peace. But the warrior is not slumbering: his tense posture indicates that, if necessary, he is ready to again defend his homeland.

Round the pedestal with the figure of the soldier are arranged in a semicircle and connected in the upper part of the smaller columns of light gray color. In all there are 6, like the years that lasted the Second World War. On the surface of the colonnades are carved lists of soldiers killed during the storming of Berlin Soviet soldiers and inscriptions telling about the types of troops that took part in the battle. The monument is framed by gun-howitzer model ML-20 and tanks T-34. This military equipment is not in vain here, because it went through the whole war and, together with the troops of the Red Army, reached Berlin. Behind the colonnades you can see 2 fountains. Water, beating from them, personifies the tears of Soviet people mourning for the dead.

Burial places in the territory of the memorial

As already mentioned above, the memorial to the fallen Soviet soldiers in the Tiergarten is not only a monument. On its territory there are burials of servicemen who died on the outskirts of Berlin. The graves of officers of the Soviet army lined up in front of the monument, on either side of the path leading to it. Behind the memorial is a small park, in which the remains of the dead soldiers lie. The total number of soldiers of the Soviet Army buried on the territory of the complex varies from 2 to 2.5 thousand people. In memory of the fallen soldiers and officers every year on May 8 there is a solemn laying of flowers and wreaths to their graves.

Care and Care

For decades he remained in the English occupation zone of the Tiergarten. The memorial to the soldiers was a kind of island of the Soviet presence in West Berlin. Until 1994, near the monument, an honor guard of the troops of the motorized rifle battalion of the Soviet, and later of the Russian army, was carried. After the collapse of the USSR and the withdrawal of our troops from the territory of Germany, the monument was handed over to Berlin.

The care for the monument and graves of the fallen soldiers today is carried out jointly by Germany and Russia on the basis of a bilateral agreement concluded between them. The last time the memorial complex was restored in late April 2008. Today it is in excellent condition.

Incident with a monument

The memorial to the fallen Soviet soldiers in the Tiergarten in 2010 was desecrated. Unknown persons inflicted on him a red, indelible paint on a swastika and an insulting inscription in German addressed to the dead soldiers. The incident happened on the night of May 9. To destroy the inscriptions did not have time, so the local authorities had to hide them behind two rectangular strips. Russian-speaking war veterans, who came to the memorial complex to honor the memory of the victims, were disappointed by what they saw. In connection with the incident, the Russian embassy sent a note of protest to the German authorities. The incident was settled, but he left an unpleasant residue in the hearts of many of our compatriots.