Volgograd, Museum-panorama "Battle of Stalingrad"

The Second World War brought much grief to mankind. She took millions of lives, destroyed the fate of thousands of people, turned hundreds of cities into ruins. This period in history will long be reminiscent of itself, and many of its episodes are firmly entrenched in the memory of those who witnessed them. One of the unforgettable moments is the battle, which is devoted to the whole museum-panorama "Battle of Stalingrad", located in Volgograd.

How and when everything happened

August 23, 1942 was the beginning of the battle for Stalingrad. It was on this day that all the units of the Sixth German Army reached the Volga River, which ran along the outskirts of the city in its Northern District. On the southern side, during the same time, the fourth tank army arrived to the settlement. Thus, the Germans took a whole city in their mites. Contact with its inhabitants was now possible exclusively through the river. Hitler understood that citizens would defend their home, and therefore, in order to strangle their intentions at the root, he began to bomb Stalingrad from the air. The bombing continued for a whole day on August 23. During this time, more than two thousand bombs were dropped on the city, which even before the battle began turned the beautiful Stalingrad into ruins.

Storm and victory

The storming of the settlement began on September 13. This is evidenced by written references, which carefully preserves the museum-panorama "Battle of Stalingrad." Here the struggle was not for life, but to death. The Soviet army waged war for every apartment house, for every floor in it. Almost until the end of the month the Germans tried to conquer the Central City Railway Station. During this period, he more than ten times became the property of the German, then the Russian military.

Witnesses say that Stalingrad has turned into a sea of dust, smoke, debris and fire. During the period of military operations in this territory the Germans lost one and a half million people, for the Russian army the losses amounted to more than 1.1 million people, more than four thousand tanks and more than two and a half thousand aircraft. The defeat of the fascists at Stalingrad inspired confidence in the victory over Hitler of the entire Soviet people. This battle greatly weakened the German invasion.

The birth of the museum

The panorama museum "Battle of Stalingrad" (its address is Volgograd, Chuikova Street, 47) is the largest museum complex in Russia, which was dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad. The exhibition belongs to the exposition of state importance. The end of the construction work of the museum fell on the summer of 1982. Even during the war, Major General Anisimov was born the idea of creating something like this. He told about this in his letter addressed to Comrade Stalin. In 1944, the authorities announced a competition for the creation of a better sketch of the rebellious from the ashes of Stalingrad. The event was attended by both professional architects and ordinary city residents, who were not indifferent to the fate of their settlement. A great part of the projects were the panoramas of the fighting Stalingrad. It was at this moment that the idea of a panorama museum "Stalingrad Battle" appeared in Volgograd. Vadim Maslyaev, the chief architect of Volgograd himself, became the author of the project of the future masterpiece.

From the very beginning it was planned that the complex would be an integral part of the ensemble of Mamaev Kurgan and would place it in the house of the Hall of Military Glory. But such an idea did not find support in the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR. Therefore, the panorama was honored to become one of the objects of the museum complex located on the Gvardeiskaya Square. As part of this institution, there are also a stele bayonet glorifying Soviet weapons, the ruins of the Grudinin mill and Pavlov's house.

Building

So, Volgograd, the panorama museum "Battle of Stalingrad" ... The city began the construction of its world-famous complex in the winter of 1968. The country was celebrating 25 years of the Red Army's victory over the Germans at Stalingrad. In the framework of this event, a memorial plate was installed in the foundation of the future complex. Hyperboloid rotation - this is the name of the form, which has a modern museum-panorama in the city, formerly known as Stalingrad.

Long before the tower was built, the construction of another museum object began, which became the depiction of Stalingrad during the battle for its liberation. Back in 1948, work began on the creation of the famous canvas. A. Gorpenko, V. Kuznetsova, G. Marchenko and other artists had the honor to recreate the Battle of Stalingrad on canvas. For the plot, the battles that took place in January 1943 were chosen. It was a battle for Mamaev Kurgan.

Some more exhibits

The panorama museum "The Battle of Stalingrad" in Volgograd, whose address is indicated above, is proud not only of the painting mentioned above. The complex includes more than 3,500 exhibits: combat equipment, which took an active part in the battles at Stalingrad, photographs, an exhibition of images of military leaders and commanders of the Soviet era, a collection of firearms and knives. Also, the museum-panorama "The Battle of Stalingrad" has four dioramas. Each of them is a separate episode, not included in the main picture, but rather important for the liberation of the hero city.

What was, and what is

Near the museum is equipped with a platform on which in the recent past there was an exhibition of equipment that participated in the Second World War. Among these exhibits were retro-tanks, airplanes, artillery installations. But the exhibition site was incapable of sustaining such a huge weight of heavy vehicles, so in order to avoid dangerous cases, it was decided to transfer almost the whole collection to Mamayev Kurgan. Here, a special area was set up to receive such important "guests." But all the same Volgograd, the panorama museum "The Battle of Stalingrad" in particular, left some breathtaking exhibits on its expanses: one of them is the Su-2 airplane-bomber model, a gift from Volgograd from the Sukhov Design Bureau employees. Attention are howitzers and artillery pieces. Heavy tanks, standing separately, are also worthy of being avoided. Yes, verily, do not forget those terrible days when the Battle of Stalingrad was taking place ...

The Museum-Reserve has recently acquired a new find. It became a battle tank, which was found in the winter of 2010-2011 in the part of the Don River that flows in the city of Kalach-na-Donu. The tank was in a terrible state, its rust was severely corroded, but the reconstruction work was limited only to the painting of the car.

The panorama museum has at its disposal a restored steam engine from the times of the Great Patriotic War. The steam locomotive is equipped with platforms and wagons of several types: a tank wagon, a platform transporting heavy equipment, a side platform and a wagon carriage that transports people.

Guests in the life of the museum

The panorama museum "The Battle of Stalingrad", whose price starts from 50 rubles, has now been seen by all residents of Volgograd and many guests of the city. But the attraction is accessible to the eyes of not only domestic connoisseurs of art, but also foreign admirers of culture. The museum collection has visited exhibitions in Austria, the Czech Republic, England and other countries. Every year more than half a million people visit the panorama museum and its branches.

A few words at a time

The Volgograd Panorama Museum has the largest picturesque canvas in the Russian Federation. Its parameters are 16 meters in height and 120 meters in length. Panorama "Battle of Stalingrad" was the final touch of the whole complex. This is the largest museum in the city (4,5 thousand m ² ), and it is worth seeing everyone!