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
Während kaiserliche und sogar kolonialistische oder nationalsozialistische Monumente aufgrund ihres historischen Werts in Deutschland problemlos unter Denkmalschutz stehen können, versuchte man nach der Wende, sämtliche Lenindarstellungen zu schleifen. Einige Exemplare haben die Bilderstürmerei in verlassenen Militärkomplexen der Sowjetarmee überstanden. Jetzt müssen sie der Verwahrlosung und dem Vandalismus widerstehen. Weiterlesen
With a fresh, golden layer of paint Lenin shines again in its old splendour. This bust certainly deserves it; after all, its history is one of the most spectacular monumental chronicles in Germany. It is a sculpture from the Soviet Union stolen during World War II, which was to be melted down in Küstrin-Kietz and turned into raw material for the arms industry. Out of ideological conviction, however, two workers of the scrapping company hid the bust and thus prevented its destruction.
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After the military withdrawal in 1994, a statue of Lenin was left behind in the military area of the Soviet Army in Fürstenwalde. The sculpture is presumably a creation of the members of the army from the 1970s. After a long period of uncertainty, the monument was brought into the private collection of the association IFA-Freunde Trebus (Fürstenwalde) in 2015, where it is part of a large exhibition of GDR vehicles, everyday objects and monuments. Weiterlesen
In the year of 2015 a typical scene from the period immediately after the German reunification was seen again in the city of Strausberg: A Lenin-statue being lifted by a crane truck, in order to prepare its removal. The sculpture had been lying in the backyard of the Museum for Local History since 1991, covered by a black plastic. The German Communist Party had proposed its re-erection, but neither the mayor nor the director of the museum were convinced of the idea. Instead, they decided to give the statue to the cultural association “IFA-Freunde Trebus” (from the city of Fürstenwalde), in order to be exposed together with a collection of cars and everyday objects from the GDR. Weiterlesen
Nur fünfzehn Minuten Fußweg vom Rostocker Stadthafen entfernt steht eines der imposantesten revolutionären Denkmäler Deutschlands. Es handelt sich um die in Erinnerung an die Novemberrevolution von 1918 errichtete „Gedenkstätte revolutionärer Matrosen“. Der Kieler Matrosenaufstand hatte damals die Revolution ausgelöst, die zum Sturz der Monarchie im Deutschen Reich und der Gründung einer parlamentarischen Demokratie („Weimarer Republik“) führte. Das Denkmal besteht aus zwei Teilen: eine zwanzig Meter lange Reliefwand mit Szenen der internationalen Arbeiterbewegung und eine neun Meter hohe Bronzeskulptur zweier Matrosen in Angriffsposition. Weiterlesen
Only fifteen minutes walk from the Rostock city harbour lies one of the most impressive revolutionary monuments in Germany. It’s the „memorial of revolutionary sailors“ erected in honour of the 1918-November Revolution. The sailors‘ uprising in Kiel was the beginning of the revolution that led to the fall of the monarchy in the German Reich and the foundation of a parliamentary democracy („Weimar Republic“). Rostock’s monument consists of two parts: a twenty-metre-long relief wall with scenes of the international labour movement and a nine-metre-high bronze sculpture of two sailors in attacking position. Weiterlesen
Eine als Denkmal geschützte Statue, die gleich zweimal spurlos verschwindet. Eine steinerne Büste, die plötzlich am Eingang des Volksparks auftaucht. Lenins Existenz in Potsdam ist von geheimnisvollen Ereignissen geprägt, bei denen selbst Journalisten, Politiker und Beamte den Überblick verlieren. Weiterlesen
A statue, which is under monument protection, but disappears twice without a trace. An old and forgotten bust, which suddenly is standing at the entrance of the Volkspark. Lenin’s existence in Potsdam is a succession of mysterious incidents and even journalists, politicians and public authorities lose track of it. Weiterlesen
After the Red Army left its base in Vogelsang, Brandenburg, the abandoned barracks turned into a popular destination for photographers and adventurous tourists. The main attraction was the large mural with a Lenin relief between the old café and the officers‘ house. However, a few years ago, following the decision to renaturalize the area, the demolition of the entire military complex began, which also endangered the Lenin Monument. But finally the monument to the Communist revolutionary was saved in spring of 2017 and taken to Wünsdorf, being placed in front of a museum. Weiterlesen
LENIN IS STILL AROUND 