Showing posts with label memorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memorial. Show all posts

June 27, 2025

Tour Report: Goodbye, Lenin!

Lenin's head stands in an overgrown meadow in a small town in Brandenburg - alone, half-hidden behind a bush, as if history itself had become entangled here. The stone bust rises silently from the ground, almost absorbed by nature, and yet it is impossible to miss. The sight of it is irritating and captivating at the same time: in the middle of this hidden area, far from any official place of remembrance, it seems to be a fragment from another time - resistant, forgotten and yet unbrokenly present.
It is as if the head has found shelter in this place - a kind of silent exile after the end of the ideological age that once elevated it. The bushes and growing trees seem like a natural veil, like they are protecting something that does not want to be found. The fact that this memorial has survived hardly seems coincidental: since the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the region has been systematically cleared up - memorial plaques removed, statues toppled, traces erased. But here, in a no man's land between consciousness and oblivion, the head remains. Neither officially preserved nor destroyed, it seems to have stolen itself from the field of vision of time - like a silent witness waiting for something that will never happen again.

Not far away are a few residential buildings that were expropriated by the Soviet army after the Second World War. After reunification, they underwent extensive renovation and were converted into modern living spaces. Behind the largest building is a small green area with playground equipment - a place of everyday life. But behind it begins an undesigned wilderness left to its own devices. The bust lies right on the threshold between a cultivated habitat and a natural mess - without a pedestal, marked by decay. Its nose is damaged and a gaping hole in the back of its head reveals a hollow interior with only dried leaves and scattered pebbles. The view inside is sobering - and yet there is something mysterious about it, as if this place holds a secret that eludes quick access.

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July 24, 2024

Tour Report:Air-Raid Shelter "Monument"

In December 2019, a good friend asked me if I would like to accompany him on a special excursion to Hamburg that night. His plan was to climb into the world's largest Bismarck memorial to take photos of the air-raid shelters underneath.
Of course, this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.
It was planned that the renovation work, which had already been decided upon, would begin only about two months later - and that would probably mean that any further attempt in the future would be futile.
So we set off in the evening. About an hour later, we reached the park where the Bismarck monument has been located since 1906.
We found a parking space nearby and set off with our equipment.
The monument was surrounded by a wall of wooden panels in preparation for the upcoming restoration. However, there was an opening that we were able to squeeze through. And apparently not just us, because behind the passageway we discovered a small “tent city” of homeless people who were using this reasonably sheltered spot as a place to stay.
We had to climb a few steps to reach the base of the memorial, where the air-raid shelters were built using 2000 tons of concrete during the Second World War.
There was a metal door in the floor. To our surprise, it was not locked and could be opened easily.
Inside, a wooden staircase led down. Below the statue is a conical room about 15 meters high, surrounded by eight smaller rooms. This inner structure originally served to ventilate the monument.
We had to climb a few steps to reach the base of the memorial, where the air-raid shelters were built using 2000 tons of concrete during the Second World War.
There was a metal door in the floor. To our surprise, it was not locked and could be opened easily.
Inside, a wooden staircase led down. Below the statue is a conical room about 15 meters high, surrounded by eight smaller rooms. This inner structure originally served to ventilate the monument.
The interior contains murals, including coats of arms and a swastika as a sun wheel, as well as quotes from Bismarck in Gothic script that have been taken out of context. These murals were created in the course of converting the memorial into an air-raid shelter.
After a good hour, we had explored all areas of the monument and our photo tour was over.
This was a very special exploration for me, not only because of the historical significance of the memorial, but also because of the fact that it is a memorial that has been converted into an air raid shelter!

Disclaimer:
The depiction of any prohibited symbols in this article is for historical documentation purposes only!

To find out about the history of the place and to check out all the photos, click the button below.

April 16, 2024

Tour Report: Soviet Army Memorial D.

After the end of the Second World War, the eastern part of Germany was occupied by Soviet troops. The GDR emerged from this area in 1949. The Soviet troops occupied around 10% of the territory of the GDR. As part of the hero worship that resulted from the victory of the Red Army in the "Great Patriotic War", monuments and memorials were erected in many Soviet locations in the GDR - mostly by the soldiers of the garrisons themselves.
After the withdrawal of Soviet troops following the fall of the Berlin Wall, many of these monuments were forgotten, some were demolished and many were damaged by vandalism.
If the opportunity arises on our excursions, we try to visit and document these relics not only of the Soviet occupation, but also monuments to the liberation of Germany from the Nazis and - from our point of view - memorials against the war.
During our November 2019 vacation, one of these memorials crossed our path on the way from a location back to the hotel, and of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity to stop and take a few photos.
We were really lucky. On the one hand, because the two parts of the memorial were not yet completely covered in graffiti - which is now (2024) the case - and on the other hand, because the weather was really fantastic for photos, as the sun was about to set and the clouds were painting beautiful pictures in the sky.

To find out more about this monument and the pictures it shows - and to check out more photos - click the button below!







































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