Soviet War Memorial (Schönholzer Heide)

Soviet War Memorial in Schönholzer Heide (Sowjetische Ehrenmal in der Schönholzer Heide) in Pankow, Berlin was erected in the period between May 1947 and November 1949 and covers an area of 30 000 m².

Schönholzer Heide was in the 19th century a popular recreationarea.During the second world war the place was turned into a workcamp. After the war the north-western part of the area was used to build the third large Soviet war memorial in Berlin, together with the memorials in Treptower Park and Tiergarten.

A Soviet group of architects consisting of A. Solowjew, M. Belarnzew, W. D. Koroljew and the sculptor Iwan G. Perschudtschew made the sketch for the cemetery, where 13 200 of the 80 000 Soviet soldiers that had fallen during the battle of Berlin, should be buried. On a wall around the memorial there are 100 bronzetablets where the names, ranks and birthdates of the soldiers it was possible to identify, is written. This group constitutes about one fifth of the fallen soldiers.

On both side of the mainaxis, which at its end one finds a 33,5 meter tall obelisk made of syenitt, there are placed 8 burial chambers where 1182 soldiers are buried. Under the Honour Hall inside the obelisk there are buried two Soviet colonels.

A statue of the Russian Mother Earth is situated in front of the obelisk and constitutes the main point of the memorial. On the statue`s base, which is made out of black porfyrium, one finds 42 bronzetablets on which the names of fallen officers are inscribed.

External links

* [http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/stadtgruen/friedhoefe_begraebnisstaetten/de/sowjet_ehrenmale/schoenholzerheide/index.shtml Ehrenmal Schönholzer Heide auf den Seiten der Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung]
*Hans Hauser: [http://www.luise-berlin.de/bms/bmstext/9809detb.htm "Sorgen mit den russischen Ehrenmalen"] , In: Berlinische Monatsschrift 9/1998, Edition Luisenstadt