Kategorie: Sachsen-Anhalt (English)

Three Orders of Lenin on the theatre façade

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Through the doors, which are wide open, one easily enters the theatre building of the former ammunition depot in Kapen, where Soviet troops were stationed in the post-war period. The auditorium is dark and dusty. Only a few boards are left of the old wooden floor. The stage has completely disappeared. At this sight, it is difficult to imagine the glamorous evening events of past times. The only trace of the Soviets is on the outer façade, where a few small painted emblems still remain. Lenin can also be found there. Weiterlesen →

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Lenin relief brought back to light

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Old photos of the Soviet barracks in Möhlau show a relief with a side portrait of Lenin. For years it was thought to have been lost when the Soviet army left, because the remaining stele was blank. But after a quarter of a century of weathering, the top layer of the stele began to peel away and surprisingly, the red colour of the former monument and the outlines of Lenin’s head appeared, although diffuse and blurred. We immediately set out in the hope of restoring the original relief.

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Mural renovated and extended in graffiti style

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While exploring abandoned objects one constantly comes across graffiti, tags and other works of „street art„. They have become part of the unique landscape of abandoned places. However, they rarely have a concrete connection to the historical sites in which they are located and many visitors tend to perceive them as foreign bodies or disturbing elements. An exception can be seen in Möhlau, where a graffiti artist first renovated a monumental Lenin mural of the Soviet army, only to expand it with a stylized Soviet flag. Weiterlesen →

Pale memory

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Once hundreds of neat soldiers of the Soviet Army marched here past the tribune of honour and the two freshly painted murals. Today, however, this is only a pale memory of times past. As pale as the colour of the two Soviet steles: One shows a Red Army soldier, the other Lenin. Although the Soviet revolutionary leader has been abandoned for almost 30 years, his stony gaze and charisma still remain on the former parade trail. Weiterlesen →

The first German Lenin monument

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The first Lenin monument in Germany was inaugurated in 1929 and placed in the building of the German Communist Party (KPD) in Halle. After a trip to the Soviet Union, a group of members of the KPD described with enthusiasm the “Lenin corners”, which could be seen all around the country. These memorials consisted of a representation of Lenin and other Communist symbols, located in buildings of the public administration or political organizations. Following this model, the KPD of Halle-Merseburg decided to erect the first German monument dedicated to Lenin. The central element of this installation was a ceramic mask 1,10m in height and 80cm in width, made by the sculptor Will Halle. Weiterlesen →

A heroic rescue

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Lenin_bydchantzaras1

In October of 1943 a train coming from the Russian city of Pushko arrived at the train-station of Eisleben. The wagons were filled with scrap metal bulky metallic objects, spoils of war from the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The whole shipment was meant to be taken to the Krughütte, a production plant nearby, in order to be melt down. The soviet forced laborers, which were unloading the wagons, didn’t believe their eyes, as they suddenly found in middle of bells, artillery shells and pieces of boats a three meter high statue of Lenin, made of bronze. Their national hero had come to support them in these hard times – it was a miracle! They decided to hide the statue under a mountain of scrap and saved it from destruction. Weiterlesen →

The red star over the city of Halle

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Star

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The risingFrom behind star of Lenin’s socialism is still scintillating in the city of Halle: In the Pestalozzi Park you can find an old monument, which shows Lenin’s head on a star, floating over the earth. Our planet is placed at the top of three books, which contain a formula developed by the Soviet revolutionary: „Soviet power + Electrification = Communism”. It refers to the importance of the process of electrification in the beginning of the 20th century or the economic growth of the entire country. In 1920 the government created the „State Commission for Electrification of Russia“ and in 10 years the production of electricity increased tenfold. Weiterlesen →