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 Surrender of Spandau Citadel - Berlin, Germany
N 52° 32.417 E 013° 12.745
33U E 378769 N 5822634
A sign commemorating the Soviet officers who negotiated the surrender of the Spandau Fortress.
Waymark Code: WM10B43
Location: Berlin, Germany
Date Posted: 04/05/2019
Views: 2
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On April 27, 1945 nearing the end of World War II in Europe, the Red Army completed the siege ring around Berlin. The last place of resistance was Spandau Citadel a 450 year-old fortress with walls thick enough to even withstand modern artillery.
On May 1, Soviet Officers negotiated the surrender of the fortress. Unbeknownst to the Red Army, the Citadel contained a secret stockpile of chemical weapons and a shelling by Russian artillery may have exposed the fortress and the town of Spandau to deadly Tabun-Nervegas. Thus, the peaceful surrender of the fortress not only saved the lives of the soldiers and hundreds of civilians who took refuge in the Citadel, but also the lives of thousands of people in the surrounding area.
The pictures above show the citadel as it looks today (our picture, above left) and a screenshot from the movie I was 19, depicting the negotiation in 1945 (above right).
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On May 1, 2015, a plaque was placed inside the gate to the fortress, reading: Captain VLADIMIR GALL and
Major VASILY GRISHIN
negotiated for the Soviet army the
peaceful surrender of the Citadel on
May 1, 1945. |
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Vladimir Gall was born in 1919 in Charkov, Ukraine. In 1936, he started studying German literature in Moscow. After Germany's attack on the Soviet Union, he joined the Red Army as an interpreter.
After the war, Gall was one of the most prominent Soviet activists working towards reconciliation between German and Russian people. He forged lifelong friendships with some of the German officers who surrendered the Citadel in 1945. The city of Berlin declared Gall an honorable citizen.
Vladimir Gall died in 2011. The picture right shows him with German-Jewish Red Army volunteer Konrad Wolf, who later became one of Germany's most prolific film-directors.
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Konrad Wolf and Vladimir Gall in 1945. Source: slideplayer.org
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Group that erected the marker: City of Berlin
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Zitadelle Spandau
Am Juliusturm 64
Berlin-Haselhorst, Germany
13599
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