Shortly after I posted the photos of a painted Lenin emblem on the former nuclear bunker site, I received a tip regarding a bust of Lenin that used to exist there. In old black and white photos, Lenin’s head can be seen on a black pedestal over two meters high. The monument stands in front of a stylized Soviet flag made of concrete. In the left back you can see the year of construction 1977 on the outer façade of a two- or three-storey building. Weiterlesen
The abandoned airfield in Wittstock an der Dosse presents a contrasting scene: Lenin is standing at the lectern in a Statesmanly pose, but he is covered with fissures and moss. His head is smashed. In the background is a red brick building erected by the Wehrmacht with broken windows and crumbling walls. A time document of the last 100 years of German history in the form of a post-apocalyptic setting. Weiterlesen
When the Soviet Army left East Germany in the early 1990s, a vast network of empty barracks and ghost towns was left behind. There are still traces, leftovers and some mysteries of the Soviets to be found there today. One of these enigmas is the Lenin head, about one meter high, carved into the wall in the abandoned complex in Kummersdorf. Weiterlesen
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
The Special Weapons Depot in the wooded area near Stolzenhain was once a strategically important facility of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, but after the German reunification the complex was abandoned. The traces left behind give the forest a post-apocalyptic aura today, to which especially the abandoned nuclear bunker contribute. But there are also some Soviet traces left in the barracks area, including a small Lenin mural commemorating the 70th anniversary of the October Revolution. Weiterlesen
In some barracks of the Soviet Army in Germany, apart from monuments in honour of Lenin, some quotes from the revolutionary leader can still be found. Like the statues, busts and reliefs, the inscriptions are also highly endangered and are gradually disappearing as a result of conversion processes, the atmospheric conditions or acts of vandalism. Here are the last remaining quotations of Lenin in former installations of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany:
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What was once a side portrait of Lenin is now little more than a large blurred spot on a white background. Lenin and the entire mural are hardly recognisable 30 years after the Soviet army marched out. The humid sea air accelerates the decay and gradually erases this tribute to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the hero of the October Revolution right on the Baltic Sea. Weiterlesen
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.
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
On the former airfield in Sperenberg (Brandenburg) there is still a flaking Soviet mural with Lenin inside an abandoned building. It is a difficult discovery even for experienced Urbex explorers, because the corridor to the room can only be reached through a small hole in a wall. But first you have to find the right building in this vast ghost town. Weiterlesen
LENIN IS STILL AROUND 