...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 Treptower 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 visit here to worship the great feat of the 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 Soviet marshal, Kliment Voroshilov, imagined 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 again. 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, 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 an exact copy of the sword of the Pskov prince Gabriel, who, together with Alexander Nevsky, fought against the “dog knights”.
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 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. German workshops also produced bowls for the eternal flame and mosaics 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 the sculptor E. Vuchetich. Interestingly, granite from Hitler's Reich Chancellery was used for construction. The 13-meter figure of the Liberator Warrior was made 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 times of the GDR, the memorial complex in Treptower Park served as a venue for various kinds of official events and 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 the city of Tyazhin, he got a job as a caretaker in a 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. In connection with the latest events in Ukraine, journalists from popular German publications sent letters to the Bundestag demanding the dismantling of the legendary monuments.
One of the publications that signed the openly provocative petition was the newspaper Bild. Journalists write that Russian tanks have no place near the famous Brandenburg Gate. “As long as 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 the end of the Cold War, Russia is trying to suppress a peaceful revolution in Eastern Europe by force,” 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. It 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. Some people were very annoyed by this.
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 look at their history. Both in the old Gadeer guidebooks and on modern tourist sites, this is a monument to the “Soviet soldier-liberator.” To a simple man who came to Europe in peace.
1) I knew about Treptower Park since I was 10 years old, when my relative, a WWII veteran, then gave me a large book to read about the history of World War 2, in which already in the chapters about the final period of the Great Patriotic War there was talk about Berlin operation.
2) The park itself is located in the area of the S-Bahn line station of the same name, from where you can walk along Puschinalle (Pushkin Street) for about 1 km. In this area there were very often Russian-speaking citizens, locals or tourists, I can’t say. Apparently, this is due to the location of the Belarusian embassy nearby, which the Belarusians themselves are somewhat unhappy about, comparing it with the Russian embassy, located almost in the very center of Berlin, 200 meters from the Brandenburg Gate.
The Belarusian citizens themselves immediately blamed Alexander Lukashenko for this due to the fact that the Belarusian embassy is on the outskirts of the city, and the Russian one is in the center. 
3) Apparently, Russian-speaking tourists are often brought to the monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator. Interestingly, the Treptower Park area is located 3 km from the former border between West and East Berlin, which ran along the Landwehrkanal canal. As soon as you crossed one bridge over this canal, the ethnic picture instantly changed. Interesting point. Before the former border of the GDR and West Berlin, Russian-speaking people, after that they came from African countries and Turkey. A wonderful cross-cultural experience. 
4) And now to the monument itself. After the end of the GDR, the Treptower Park complex was abandoned. There were proposals to completely demolish all the slabs with I. Stalin’s statements, calling the monument itself the last monument in the world to Joseph Vissarionovich. 
5) More than 7,000 Soviet soldiers are buried on the territory of the memorial, erected to commemorate the defeat of National Socialism. During the Berlin operation and in the battles for Berlin from April 16 to May 2, more than 75,000 Soviet soldiers died. In 1946, the Soviet military administration decided to refurbish Soviet military burial grounds in Berlin. The location was chosen by the Soviet command and enshrined in order number 134. Along with the Tiergarten memorial already created in 1945, where the burial place of more than 2,000 Soviet soldiers was located, additional mass graves were planned for the fallen Red Army soldiers. 
6) On May 8, 1949, the largest Soviet military memorial outside the Soviet Union was inaugurated in Treptow. The significance of the memorial goes far beyond Berlin and Germany. In the central part of the park, in a large meadow, there is a figure of a Soviet soldier cutting a swastika with a sword, and with a rescued child on his arm, which is a world-famous symbol of the contribution of the Soviet Union to the defeat of National Socialism (authors: architect Yakov Belopolsky and sculptor Evgeniy Vuchetich). 
7) Granite from Hitler’s Reich Chancellery was used for construction. The monument is not an abstract monument, it is a monument to Sergeant Nikolai Masalov, who actually saved a German girl. 
8) It should be added that the sculptor Evgeniy Vuchetich is one of the creators of one of the tallest statues in the world, the sculptural composition “Motherland” on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. 
9) Monument “Warrior-Liberator” - Sculptor E. V. Vuchetich, architect Ya. B. Belopolsky, artist A. V. Gorpenko, engineer S. S. Valerius. Opened on May 8, 1949. Height - 12 meters. Weight - 70 tons.
Inside the pedestal there is a round memorial hall. The walls of the hall are decorated with mosaic panels (artist A. A. Gorpenko). The panel depicts representatives of different nations, including the peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia, laying wreaths on the grave of Soviet soldiers. Above their heads it is written in Russian and German: “Now everyone recognizes that the Soviet people, with their selfless struggle, saved the civilization of Europe from the fascist pogromists. This is the great merit of the Soviet people before the history of mankind” (quote from the report of J.V. Stalin on the 27th anniversary of the October Revolution. 
10) There are three versions of who exactly posed for the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich for the soldier’s monument. However, they do not contradict each other, since it is possible that at different times different people could pose for the sculptor.
- According to the memoirs of retired colonel Viktor Mikhailovich Gunaza, in 1945 in the Austrian city of Mariazell, where Soviet units were stationed, he posed for the young Vuchetich. Initially, according to the memoirs of V. M. Gunaza, Vuchetich planned to sculpt a soldier holding a boy in his hands, and it was Gunaza who advised him to replace the boy with a girl.
- According to other sources, for a year and a half in Berlin, Soviet army sergeant Ivan Stepanovich Odarchenko posed for the sculptor. Odarchenko also posed for the artist A. A. Gorpenko, who created a mosaic panel inside the pedestal of the monument. In this panel, Odarchenko is depicted twice - as a soldier with the sign of a Hero of the Soviet Union and a helmet in his hands, and also as a worker in blue overalls with his head bowed, holding a wreath. After demobilization, Ivan Odarchenko settled in Tambov and worked at a factory. He died in July 2013 at the age of 86.
- According to an interview with Rafail’s father, the son-in-law of the commandant of Berlin A.G. Kotikov, who refers to the unpublished memoirs of his father-in-law, the cook of the Soviet commandant’s office in Berlin posed as a soldier. Later, upon returning to Moscow, this cook became the head chef of the Prague restaurant.
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.
Architect Ya. B. Belopolsky and 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. A monument to such an outstanding person should have been created only by an equally unconventional personality. It was decided to install the sculpture in Treptow 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, the Soviet government allowed the erection of 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 the 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 that it was necessary to carry out a process during which the monument to the liberating soldier in Berlin was dismantled and sent for modernization. It took place for almost six months, as a result of which already in May 2004 the updated figure of the 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 crying. 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 from the mortar training school. 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 a difficult situation, the soldiers managed to protect, at the cost of many human lives, the banner that 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. Nicholas 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 using 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 already 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 the Soviet government has the whole world under its control and will never again allow the threat of fascism.
Additional facts
It would also be worth noting the fact that, as a sign of victory over Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union issued a coin with a face value of 1 ruble, on the reverse side of which was depicted 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 had been in full swing for six months, the “Warrior-Liberator” began to rise in Treptower Park, and due to its significant height it can be seen anywhere in the park.
Monument to the “Warrior Liberator” in Berlin (Berlin, Germany) - description, history, location, reviews, photos and videos.
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How to get there: by train to the station. Treptower Park or buses No. 166, 265, 365.
Opening hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Entrance to the park and memorial hall is free.
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- Where to stay: In hotels of any star rating and price policy in Berlin, near attractions or on budget outskirts. The choice of hotels in Brandenburg and Potsdam is no less, in addition, there is wonderful nature and about 500 palaces and estates in the surrounding area. Anyone whose soul is partial to beauty will love the “German Florence” - Dresden with its Baroque mansions and art collections. Leipzig is the most inspiring city in Germany: the works of Bach, Schumann, Wagner, Mendelssohn and Goethe are proof of this.
- What to see: The Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Wall, as well as a lot of interesting museums and monuments in Berlin. In Brandenburg, you should definitely visit the magnificent royal estates, and in
On May 8, 1949, 60 years ago, the “Monument to the soldiers of the Soviet Army who died in battles against fascism” was opened on the territory of Treptower Park in Berlin.
The world-famous Soviet memorial complex in Treptower Park, where about five thousand Soviet soldiers are buried, is the figure of a Soviet soldier, in one hand a sword cutting a fascist swastika, in the other a little German girl rescued from the ruins of defeated Berlin. At the base of the monument there is a mausoleum.
Taking into account the height of the hill and the base of the base, the total height of the monument is approximately 30 meters.
The memorial took three years to build and was officially opened on May 8, 1949. The team of authors was headed by architect Yakov Belopolsky and sculptor Evgeniy Vuchetich.
It is believed that the prototype for the sculptor was Nikolai Masalov, a Soviet soldier, a native of the village of Voznesenka, Tisulsky district, Kemerovo region, who saved a German girl during the storming of Berlin in April 1945. According to historians, on April 30, 1945, Sergeant Masalov, a participant in the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk, heard a child scream during a battle a few kilometers from the Reichstag on a street adjacent to the Landwehrkanal. Moving towards him, the soldier found a three-year-old girl in a dilapidated building and, covering her with his body, carried the baby to a safe place under bullets. Marshal Chuikov was the first to tell about Masalov’s feat; later researchers were able to document this.
After the war, Evgeniy Vuchetich met with Nikolai Masalov, whose feat suggested to him the key idea of the monument in Treptow Park: by saving a girl, a soldier protects peace and life.
As a prototype of the bronze soldier, the names of two Soviet soldiers are most often mentioned - Ivan Odarchenko and Viktor Gunaz. Vuchetich met with both, and both posed for him.
First, Vuchetich made a plaster model of the “Warrior-Liberator” 2.5 meters high, and then a 13-meter high bronze monument weighing 72 tons was cast from it in Leningrad. It was transported to Berlin in parts by sea.
According to Ivan Odarchenko’s recollections, first there was actually a German girl sitting in his arms, and then a Russian one - 3-year-old Sveta - the daughter of the commandant of Berlin, General Kotikov.
Many believed that the sword was out of place in the “Warrior-Liberator” statue, and advised the sculptor to exchange it for some modern weapon, for example, a machine gun. But Vuchetich insisted on the sword. In addition, he did not make a sword at all, but exactly copied the sword of the Pskov prince Gabriel, who, together with Alexander Nevsky, fought for Rus' against the “dog knights”.
According to the state agreement between the USSR and Germany of 1990, the Federal Republic assumed obligations for the care and necessary restoration of monuments and other burial places of Soviet soldiers on German territory. In this case, funding comes from the German government, and the Berlin Senate is responsible for organizing the work.
In the fall of October 1, 2003, the sculpture of the warrior was dismantled and sent for restoration. In the spring of 2004, the monument to the soldiers of the Soviet Army who fell in battles against fascism in Berlin was returned to its original location.
The author of the monument is Evgeniy Viktorovich Vuchetich, an outstanding Soviet sculptor and monumentalist. She is the author of the grandiose memorial on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. Among his other works is the monument to Dzerzhinsky on Lubyanka Square in Moscow (1958, today located in the Muzeon Art Park next to the building of the Central House of Artists on Krymsky Val) and the figure “Let’s Beat Swords into Plowshares” (1957), one of the castings of which was presented by the Soviet government as a gift to the UN.
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