Soldier - Liberator
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Bernd das Brot Team
N 52° 29.167 E 013° 28.315
33U E 396239 N 5816205
The largest Red Army memorial outside Russia
Waymark Code: WMZW7Q
Location: Berlin, Germany
Date Posted: 01/12/2019
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member Math Teacher
Views: 5
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Soldier-Liberator is the central monument at the Soviet WW II Cemetery and Memorial in Berlin-Treptow, Germany. The 36 feet tall, 70 tons weighing bronze statue was created by famous Soviet sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and dedicated on May 8, 1949, the 4th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi-Germany.

The monument emphasizes the idea, that the Soviet victory over Hitler was not a conquest, but a liberation. Therefor, the design of the monument is based on the story of Soviet Sergeant of Guards Nikolai Masalov. On April 30, 1945, Soviet troops closed in on the Reich Chancellery - Hitler's official residence. When approaching a bridge over the Landwehr Canal, Masalov noticed a three-year-old girl, sitting crying next to a dead Red-Cross nurse. Under heavy German machine-gun fire, he approached the girl and rescued her.

While there were many other legends about Russian soldiers rescuing German children, this one was authenticated in the memoirs of Soviet Marshall Vasily Chuikov.

Masalov died in 2001. Two years after his death, a plaque, commemorating his heroism was dedicated at the bridge.

There is more symbolism in the statue. The soldier holds the sword of a warrior-hero and underneath his boots are pieces of a broken swastika.

While the statue is supposed to depict Nikolai Masalov, modeling for the statue was a soldier named Iwan Odartschenko. Posing as model for the little German girl was Swetlana Kotikowa, daughter of Berlin's Soviet town commander, general Alexander Kotikov. The identity of the original German girl has never been established.

Sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich was one of the Soviet Union's most renowned artists. He is famous for the statue Swords into Plowshares in front of the United Nations building in New York.

Vuchetich also designed the largest Soviet war memorial, the 295 feet tall statue The Motherland Calls in Stalingrad. While the statue in Stalingrad has her sword raised to symbolize the uprising against Nazi-Germany, the statue in Berlin holds a lowered sword to symbolize the end of the war.

The Statue is mounted on a hill in the style of old Russian burial mounds from the Don Region, called Kurgan.

Including the mound and the pedestal, the munument rises to a height of 100 feet.

Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: Soldier - Liberator

Figure Type: Human

Artist Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: Yevgeny Vuchetich

Date created or placed or use 'Unknown' if not known: 5/8/1949

Materials used: Bronze

Location: Soviet War Memorial at Treptower Park
Visit Instructions:
Please upload at least one photo you have personally taken of the sculpture and tell us a little about your impressions of the piece. Additional photos are always appreciated.
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